Richard Childress pressed on NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps' 'redneck' text as RCR explores legal action

While Richard Childress couldn’t talk about the text messages NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps sent about him during his testimony, he had a chance afterward. Childress was called a “stupid redneck” in text messages sent by Phelps to others in NASCAR leadership.

Richard Childress is known for being a character. He speaks his mind and isn’t afraid to make people mad. But we didn’t get much out of him today in regard to those “redneck” comments.

According to Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, Childress declined to comment about the text messages after his testimony. Childress has expressed interest in possibly seeking legal action over the comments.

Richard Childress has concluded his testimony. Afterwards, outside the courthouse, when I asked if he had anything to say regarding what Steve Phelps said about him in unearthed text messages, Childress declined comment.

— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) December 9, 2025

The comments made by Steve Phelps about Richard Childress were harsh. Phelps reached out to Childress weeks ago to apologize for it, even before those messages were made public. “Stupid redneck” and “idiot” were terms thrown around by Phelps about the longtime NASCAR team owner.

During his testimony, Phelps expressed regret over the text messages. However, the actual messages were not entered into evidence. Ahead of the trial, those messages were considered more prejudicial than probative. Basically, it doesn’t help answer if NASCAR is a monopoly abusing its power, it just amounts to drama that makes NASCAR and Phelps look bad.

However, in any potential legal action against Phelps and NASCAR, Richard Childress would make these messages front and center of a lawsuit. It remains to be seen if that lawsuit happens.

Richard Childress contemplating legal action

As mentioned above, Richard Childress is considering legal action over these text messages from Steve Phelps. If a lawsuit were to occur, you would have to imagine that we would potentially see more text messages about team owners come from that. It all depends on what Childress wants to do.

After all, Phelps didn’t just say that Childress was a stupid redneck. It went further. Phelps said Childress, “needs to be taken out back and flogged. He’s a stupid redneck who owes his entire fortune to nascar [sic].”

In response, RCR and Childress sent out this message:
“RCR and Richard Childress are deeply disappointed by the insensitive and defamatory statements made about Mr. Childress in recently surfaced text messages between NASCAR executives Steve Phelps and Brian Herbst,” the team said in the statement. “These comments reflect the way certain NASCAR executives have historically viewed and treated many team owners like Mr. Childress, who have devoted their lives to strengthening the sport for its fans, its sponsors, and all who compete in it.

The antitrust lawsuit might just lead to a defamation lawsuit. It looks like Childress is still considering it after his no comment today about the texts.