RCRN: Did you ever think NASCAR would be as popular as it is now when you were fueling the No. 3 car 20 years ago?
DM: "It is hard for me to say that NASCAR has gotten big; to me it has always been big in my life. The fans now are so different. We are getting the doctors, lawyers and judges who think it is great. What I really like about the sport is to see the women and families who enjoy racing. We see families all of the time at the RCR Museum where the dad may be wearing a Kevin Harvick hat, the mom has a Jeff Gordon hat and the little girl has, of course, a Dale Jr. hat on. They all are into it and love racing.
The exposure this sport provides to the fans is unreal. We are going all over the country and giving people a chance to be exposed to racing. I think that we are giving people the chance to get close to it and be exposed to it.
At the Richard Childress Racing Museum, we don't just have people from all over the country, but from all over the world. We give people the chance to get up close and personal to the items in the museum, but also what is going on in the Cup shop and pit stop practice. I am sure other teams are doing what we are doing, but not probably as much for the fans. It makes our sport bigger and better."
RCRN: What do you do now at RCR?
DM: "I'm in charge of the Richard Childress Racing Museum. We have great people who work there and we are all excited about the museum.
I also am in charge of safety around the complex and I take care of the test tires. Last year, I had a ton of vacation days left over, but I really didn't want to take them. I just wanted to come to work. When you enjoy work, as much as I do, it is such a neat thing."
RCRN: What items are in the RCR Museum?
DM: "We have a museum that is the original No. 3 Cup shop, the way it used to be. When fans come to the museum, they are going to see a museum full of black No. 3 Goodwrench cars.
If you're a race fan, you are going to get a lump in your throat. If you are a Dale Earnhardt fan, you'll get a tear in your eye.
Fans will see something that Richard is proud of, which is the wildlife and conservation area. The museum shows the 35-year history of Richard Childress Racing, which includes, the 1998 Daytona 500 race car, some of Richard's old cars when he was a driver and cars that won championships with Kevin Harvick as a driver."
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