Guide to Charlotte: Richard Childress Racing

It's hard to talk about racing and not mention Dale Earnhardt Sr. For years the number 3 was the man to beat in NASCAR, and most of his career was spent at Richard Childress Racing. I was never an Earnhardt fan but I still think he played a huge role in making the sport what it is today. For that reason, and a few others, we make RCR one of our top priorities when visiting the Charlotte area.

Kevin Harvick's 2007 Daytona 500 car

Our first trip to RCR happened in May 2007. During this trip Jenn bought out half the gift shop and burnt herself on the RCR sign trying to get a picture. Since we only had limited time we didn't have the chance to check out everything. We remedied that during our 2008 trip. If you are heading to Charlotte this May or any other time you should really check out RCR and here's why

• RCR is broken down into a couple different sections. The building located closest to the entrance is the gift shop and museum. Around the corner from the museum is the race shop where the cars of Harvick, Burton, Mears, and Bowyer can be found.
• RCR is located in Welcome, NC which is about an hour from downtown Charlotte. Here are the directions. We visit RCR the same day we visit KHI since both are out of the way.
  

The Museum and Gift Shop

• The museum and gift shop are open Monday - Friday from 9 to 5 PM and Saturday from 9 to 3 PM. The good thing is that the Museum is open on the Monday after the Coke 600 when many other shops aren't.
• The gift shop carries everything from Earnhardt Sr. merchandise to the current drivers. They have clothing and anything you could possibly want
• If you want to check out the museum, which we highly suggest you do, you will have to pay for admission. It's $12 for adults, $5 for students, and children under 6 get in free.
• The museum was originally the home of the Earnhardt race team and was later turned into a museum.
• There are more than 40 cars on display in the museum including many driven by Earnhardt. Many have special paint schemes to commemorate special events.
  
• Located in the back of the museum is the Earnhardt car hauler. You can walk through the hauler and see where the driver hangs out. This area also has places on the wall for visitors to sign.
  
• The museum isn't just about Earnhardt in fact there are several cars from the current drivers on display. They have Bowyer's wrecked Daytona car and the car Harvick drove to win the Daytona 500 in 2007.
  
• If you want to see trophies there are a bunch on display including the owner's trophies won by Childress when Dale Sr. won his championships.
• The museum also has a section devoted to wildlife.

The Race Shop

• The race shop is a great place to check out if you are a fan of Harvick, Bowyer, Mears, or Burton.
  
• Admission to the race shop is free and operates the same hours as the gift shop and museum.
• There is plenty of parking and when you exit the race shop you come out in the parking lot so you won't have far to walk.
• To get a birds eye view of the race shop you will need to head up the stairs just inside the entrance.
• The viewing area is large enough for many people to walk around without running into each other and wraps around the race shop. Because of this you can get close to all the cars of your favorite driver.

Even if you have been to the RCR Race Shop and Museum in the past it's worth another trip. Displays are updated often and the merchandise in the gift shop is reasonably priced.

Have you been to RCR? Tell us about your trip.