Richard Childress questioned over potential equity stake sale of RCR during NASCAR trial

This afternoon, Richard Childress took the stand in the NASCAR trial and was asked about his business as a team owner at RCR. Childress has been in the sport for decades as a driver and team owner.

Everyone was looking forward to the testimony of Richard Childress. While it likely wasn’t as electric as many expected or hoped, there were classic Childress moments, according to reports from the courthouse.

While being questioned by NASCAR on cross-examination, Childress admitted that he has been shopping an equity stake in his team around. That includes part of his 60% majority ownership. According to Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal, Childress claimed that information was supposed to be under NDA, and he was surprised that NASCAR was aware of the talks.

Under questioning by @NASCAR, Richard Childress was made to admit that @RCRracing has been in talks to sell an equity stake of the team including part of his 60% stake.

➡️ Childress said the potential buyer signed an NDA, so he was thrown off that NASCAR was aware of the talks.

— Adam Stern (@A_S12) December 9, 2025

If that information was supposed to be sealed under a non-disclosure agreement, that is a new issue entirely. Richard Childress likely isn’t happy to hear that information has gotten out. It really doesn’t help that it got out to NASCAR and was made public in this trial.

Childress has had contentious relationships with NASCAR leadership over the years. His time as a team owner spans multiple decades and different variations of France family leadership. However, it feels like the disrespect from Steve Phelps and others at NASCAR has distanced him from the sport even more.

This lawsuit has brought out unforeseen circumstances. The Phelps texts are perhaps the most egregious example so far.

Richard Childress declines comment over ‘redneck’ texts

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.

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.