During a heated portion of Richard Childress’s examination in the ongoing NASCAR antitrust trial, NASCAR’s attorney revealed that Childress had recently explored selling a portion of RCR to a group that included retired NASCAR driver Bobby Hillin Jr.
Tuesday, NASCAR fans got to hear the long-awaited testimony of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress.
Childress came into the fold of this lawsuit following text messages unsealed by the court from NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps, who, in 2022, called Childress a “stupid redneck.”
What’s Happening? Friday, documents, including messages from NASCAR officials and interteam communications, were unsealed as part of the ongoing lawsuit between…
Though Childress failed to comment on these remarks, a shocking detail emerged from his testimony during cross-examination by NASCAR attorney Chris Yates when the attorney brought to light that Childress had considered selling a portion of RCR to a group led by a former NASCAR driver.
To set the scene, as mentioned in the cross-examination, Childress, who founded RCR in 1969, owns 60% of RCR, and Chartwell Investments, which invested in the team in 2003, owns 40%. However, and crucial to this development, Childress claims Chartwell has been interested in exiting the sport for roughly the past five years.
During Childress’ time on the stand, Yates asked Childress about Bobby Hillin Jr, a former NASCAR driver who has not competed in the sport since 2009, who, alongside a group of investors, attempted to acquire an equity stake in RCR.
This conversation led to what some, like Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, are calling Childress’ “most animated” moment.
Childress’ emotions are seemingly due to an NDA he had Hillin and members of the interested party sign prior to negotiations, with this line of questioning seemingly taking him by surprise, as he did not know how NASCAR was aware of the negotiations, and why they were being brought up in court.
It is unclear what percentage of RCR the group was pursuing, and more importantly, who the portion Hillin and company were looking at would have come from, Childress or Chartwell. Nonetheless, Childress claims the deal is off the table as, per Matt Weaver of Motorsport.com, “they didn’t have the money, period.”
This is not the first time Chartwell Investments’ backing out of RCR has been openly discussed, as in 2012, Jayski reported that RCR informed team members and sponsors that Chartwell Investments was considering selling its minority ownership stake in RCR.
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