These pictures are from my trip to the RCR shop/museum in the town of Welcome, North Carolina. I made this trip in July, of '99. Yes, it took me six months to get them developed and on the net. Sue me.
The place is made up of several buidings, including the museum, which houses many show cars, and the garages for the #3 Goodwrench team and the #31 Lowe's team.
Richard Childress Race Shop and Museum
These first pictures are from the museum. I was using a one-time-use camera, so the quality isn't that great. Some of them were taken from pretty close up; this is due to the fact that were are a lot of cars in the building, so sometimes there wasn't a whole lot of space to stand back and get a good shot. (To see any of these pics full size, right-click on it, then select "view image".)
The car Earnhardt won the '98 Daytona 500 in greets you at the entrance.
This Monte Carlo was driven by Ricky Rudd in 83.
This is an 89 Monte Carlo. It was the first year for the infamous black paint scheme and the last year before Chevy switched to Luminas.
Two cars that Richard Childress drove in the mid 70's.
This is a mock-up of a whiskey still. The car in the back left of the shot is an actual '40 Ford that Junior Johnson used to run whiskey in.
This is a '55 Chevy Black Widow. It was factory built especially for racing. It is distinguishable visibly by the white quarterpanels and wheels. This is one of only a few that still exist in excellent condition.
This Monte Carlo was driven by Neil Bonnett in the early '80's.
This is a before and after shot of a Lumina that Bonnett drove and subsequently wrecked.
This is a truck that was wrecked by Jay Sauter. If you look at it full size, you can see that the roof pillars were cut with the jaws of life.
Here are two shots of a car that Earnhardt wrecked at Talladega in '96. The car flipped and when it was on it's side, was hit by another car in the windshield/roof. The enormous dent resulted in a rule that says all cars must now be equipped with an "Earnhardt Bar", which is an extra support bar that runs down the center of the windshield.
To the left is a Camaro driven by Darrell Waltrip in a 1985 IROC race.
The next pictures are from the team garages. Earnhardt's shop is three big rooms, so there is a guided tour; Skinner's shop is smaller, so it just has a viewing area.
These two shots actually make up one panoramic shot of one big room. (Note how the ceiling lights, line up, and how the same table is in the middle.) The car on the right was brand new at the time, and was basically just a body on a frame. The car on the left was the Wrangler car Earnhardt raced in the Winston in May '99. It was repainted black and also ran at both Pocono races.
Again, two pictures of the same room. The dark square in the middle of the room is a large slab of slate. It's perfectly level (like a pool table), and they park the cars on it to make sure the suspension settings are correct all around the car. The nearest car on the right is a short track car (more grille openings for better cooling), and it's backup. Two of the others on the right are a superspeedway car and it's backup. I think the two on the left were mid-track cars (Vegas, Michigan, etc.). The primered car is a tester.
This is a rear shot of the cars pictured above-right. The lady in the white shirt was our tour guide. She was really nice and knew a lot but I feel bad because I can't remember her name.
This car is in the lobby of the #31 team's building. It must have been raced at Watkin's Glen, because the gas filler is on the right side instead of the left.
Once again, two shots of the same room, from the fenced off viewing area. On the left, note the difference in spoiler angles. On the nearest car, the spoiler stands up straight (short track). On the superspeedway cars, the spoilers lay back. It's hard to see, but the car at the left end of the line facing us has an orange bumper. It was driven by Skinner when he was eligible for winning a No Bull race.
Visit the official RCR website at www.rcrracing.com
The pictures on this page are property of Scott Steffenauer and are not to be reproduced without my permission. If you'd like to use them, please e-mail me at sandman521@usa.net Thank You!