Conversation: Richard Childress

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- - Richard Childress rose from a literal hand-to-mouth existence as a NASCAR owner/driver in the 1960s and 1970s, to a position as one of the most respected team owners in motorsports across three decades.

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Childress, due to his stature in the sport, always expects to be in the middle of a whirlwind, but over the last two and a half seasons, his operation based in Welcome, N.C., has virtually turned itself inside out.

Since rebounding from the death of his close friend and partner Dale Earnhardt in the 2001 Daytona 500, Richard Childress Racing has gone through personnel shuffles and driver changes in a rebuilding process that Childress deems necessary to return the team to its previous championship form.

While preparing for Saturday night's Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway, Childress sat down with NASCAR.com's Dave Rodman to discuss fly-fishing in Montana, controlling fiery drivers and who's the next coming star in NASCAR racing.

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Q: How was the break you took after the Sonoma race, in Montana; and how was the fishing?

Richard Childress: It was great. We did some fly-fishing, which I love to do. I'm not the best at it, but I enjoy it. We go out there and just have a good, relaxing time and visit a few saloons along the way; so it was a lot of fun.

Q: How do you get out there, and with the hectic schedule you have, how often do you get to go to your place there?

Richard Childress: Any time we go on the other side of the Mississippi River, I try to make an arrangement to stop in Montana. You know, I may get out there five or six times a year.

I don't get to stay there that much sometimes, but I do get to go out there. I don't do that much hunting, which everyone thinks I do a lot of. Normally we're just out there relaxing and fishing.

Q: After the finish of the race in Sonoma, with the spat your drivers Robby Gordon and Kevin Harvick had, do you ever feel like a father with two headstrong sons?

Richard Childress: Not really. I feel like a car owner with two guys that want to win every race they're involved in. I was real happy we won the race, because it made that trip a whole lot better. Kevin finished third, which was a good day for the Goodwrench Racing Team, so I feel really good about it.

	Kevin Harvick: Ninth in points, three top-five finishes in 2003

The thing about it is, when you get guys like Kevin Harvick and Robby Gordon, they want to win, every weekend. That's the reason that they drive for me. I don't want somebody out there that you have to push, and push. These guys are just dedicated to winning, and that's why they're driving for me.

Q: Sonoma was a big weekend for the 31 team, with crew chief Kevin Hamlin's birthday, his wedding and then Robby winning the race. How big a deal was that for RCR?

Richard Childress: Those guys tested and worked really hard to have good cars like that to be able to go out there and to be able to race for the win. It was big for RCR to win. It was on a road course and Robby is a great road course racer, but Kevin set there and run pretty well, as well.

Drivers and Teams  Team Page: RCR

Q: Kevin Harvick has been racing more this season, everything from his truck to the Busch cars to Winston Cup to the Southwest race he won with at Sonoma. Has it been better for him, in your opinion?

Richard Childress: I think that the more Kevin races, the better he likes it. He just is that kind of guy that he would race something, somewhere every week if he had the opportunity.

Q: When someone wants to test with one of your drivers, as Larry McClure did with Johnny Sauter -- is that an affirmation you have desirable guys or a threat to what you're trying to build?

Richard Childress: It's not really a disruption. Larry is a friend of mine that I've known for many years. To be able to help him and to help Johnny Sauter as well, and at the end of the day it could help RCR as well, so I don't have a problem with helping people out -- especially people like Larry McClure.

	Robby Gordon: 13th in points, two top-five finishes in 2003

Q: What's your assessment of Steve Park's progress so far in the No. 30 AOL car? It seemed like they came out real strong but have flagged a little bit since then?

Richard Childress: We're all pretty disappointed because we thought we'd be running better. We had an accident at Sears Point. We were good at Charlotte but we just got a little behind there. You know, I felt we'd be a little further along, but we'll just keep working and testing.

We had a real good test at Milwaukee. We went up there after the race (at Michigan) and tested, so hopefully we'll get things turned around with that race team. That's one of our big goals, right now, is turning that team around.

Q: Looking at the second half of the season, what are your prospects and are you comfortable with the personnel lineups you have in place right now?

	Steve Park joined the RCR stable in May.

Richard Childress: Yeah, I feel real good about the 29 (Harvick) and 31 (Gordon), but the 30 (Park), like I said, we've got to get that team up and running and get it competitive and consistent every week.

We're the best we've been in the points with the other two cars for a couple years, now. We're making gains and I feel like we're really close to putting together what it's going to take to be really fast.

I'm just really proud of everybody at RCR, (the way they qualified on the front row at the Pepsi 400). The fab shop has done a great job and the engine shop has done a lot of extra work. Steve Park and Kevin Harvick have done a great job and I'm sure Robby Gordon will be up there with them racing hard on Saturday night and it will be an exciting night.

We've struggled a lot just rebuilding everything at RCR. We've been rebuilding everything over the last couple of years and with people like Kevin Harvick there that have supported us, all of our sponsors and the race fans -- we're going to get there and we're getting closer and closer all the time. This is the closest we've been, yet, and we're going to be back in Victory Lane before too long.

	Childress has 74 Winston Cup victories as a car owner.

Q: If you had to look on the horizon and pick someone to be the next young star to break into Winston Cup racing, who would it be?

Richard Childress: Rusty Wallace's (15-year-old) son, Stephen, I've already got a contract with -- I've done got a deposit on him (laughing). That's sort of an inside joke with us, but he's going to be a good racer (because) he's done good in everything he's been in.

There's a lot of young guys out there. It used to be you looked at experience. Now, you're saying 'this guy's 30 and he's getting old.' Thirty shouldn't be getting old, you know?

There's a lot of good race drivers out there. I wouldn't throw any names out, but I know there's some real good drivers out there -- young drivers.

Q: Have you had Kevin and Robby put their heads together since Sonoma to settle any differences they might have, and is there any concern on your part moving ahead?

Richard Childress: We're in Daytona right now, we're going to work together as a team and it's gonna be a good weekend.