Richard Childress Racing Museum and Winery

I think I mentioned that we are in the heart of NASCAR country.

Today, Esther, Nathan, Daniel and I visited the Richard Childress Racing Museum and the Childress Vineyard and Winery.

The museum is an awesome place. It probably contains about 50 Childress racing cars. If I had known there were going to be so many, I would have kept a count. The first photo is the front of the building and the second is of Nathan, Esther and Daniel standing in front.

Since Dale Earnhardt drove his No. 3 car for Richard Childress for several years and brought him a lot of sponsors, many of the exhibits are devoted to Earnhardt. As you enter the museum proper, the following poster is about the first thing you see:

 

There are also a number of pictures like the following showing with Dale and Richard Childress together.

 

I took pictures of almost every car, but will only show a few here. One of my favorites was, of course, the Bass Pro Chop car.

Another was the Tasmanian Devil car:

Jack Daniels was a Childress sponsor at one point and there is a very nice exhibit devoted to them.

 

The next picture though shows the Jack Daniels car in a little different light. The following car passed the finish line upside down and on fire. There is a video that runs every few minutes showing what happens. Amazing!

There was also a section devoted to the beginning of NASCAR, including this gem:

 

The following display shows the very real connection between NASCAR and country music:

Childress is apparently an avid hunter and supporter of wildlife conservation. There are a number of tributes to various conservation groups as well as a number of stuffed animals shot by Richard Childress.

I took a couple of pictures I thought were neat. The first is a wheel hub and second is of a hold-down for a hood.

Aren’t they neat?  I know, I know. You think I’m crazy.

After we left the Childress Racing Museum in Welcome, NC, we headed to the Childress Vineyard and Winery where we had a delicious lunch complete with dessert.

This shows the front of the building from the parking lot.

The entire estate is beautifully landscaped as you can tell from the next two pictures.

Most beautiful of all though are the vineyards themselves where every few rows has its own rose bush.

 

Speaking of landscaping, my niece’s house is also beautifully landscaped.  Even the butterflies think so.

Well, the day isn’t over, but I am. We are headed out to dinner, but haven’t yet decided where. I’ll let you know tomorrow.

Until next time…