| RCR Cup Shop/Administrative Building
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The "Cup Shop" is home to all three of RCR's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teams, as well as its administration offices. The 86,000-square-foot facility was opened in May 2002. The Cup Shop consists of the crew chiefs' offices, main assembly floor, finish fabrication room, paint and body room, the gear/transmission assembly room, the shock assembly room, the fabrication shop, the suspension assembly room, steering box room, parts warehouse, and transporter bay.
Fans can see first-hand what goes on in the shop by touring the RCR Fan Walk, located on the second floor of the building. The RCR Fan Walk allows visitors to view the day's activities in the main shop floor area and the transporter bay through floor-to-ceiling windows while listening to XM's "The NASCAR Channel."
RCR Busch Shop
The Busch Shop is home to its championship-winning No. 2 and No. 21 NASCAR Busch Series teams. Originally built in late 1996 for RCR's No. 31 Cup team, which debuted the next year, the building housed all three Cup teams in late 2001/early 2002 in an effort to get 70 people used to working side-by-side (literally!) before moving into the new Cup Shop in May 2002. The teams not only had to learn to work together as one team, but had to do it in tight quarters.
RCR's Busch teams have made it their own home. However, with the No. 2 ACDelco team winning the series' championship in 2001 and the No. 21 Reese's team winning the owners' championship in 2003. The Busch Shop is a smaller version of the Cup Shop, with its own crew chiefs' offices, main assembly floor, finish fabrication room, paint and body room, gear/transmission assembly room, shock assembly room, fabrication shop, suspension assembly room and parts warehouse.
RCR Fabrication Shop
The RCR Fabrication Shop is where sheet metal is shaped, welded and hung on the chassis to become the shell of an aerodynamic Chevrolet Monte Carlo stock car. The fabrication shop is also where damaged race cars are repaired and brought back to life with cosmetic repairs. English Wheels, centuries-old technology used to bend sheet metal, are utilized right alongside the latest in welding equipment from Miller Electric, to hand-build today's stock cars which must fit nearly 40 templates to NASCAR's strict tolerances. A visit to the RCR Fab Shop is an opportunity to see true artisans of their craft at work.
RCR/Okuma Technology Center
Okuma America, a world leader in Computer Numerical Controls (CNC) machine tools, and Richard Childress Racing have taken machine tooling to the next level. The Okuma Technology Center, an 8,000-square-foot facility in the center of the RCR campus, is where the development and manufacturing of parts and components, exclusively for RCR, go from an engineer's computer screen to the finished product. Engine parts, as well as those for nearly every other part of the race car, totaling in the hundreds, are produced or modified by Okuma machinery.
RCR Engineering Shop
The majority of RCR's engineers work out of the RCR Engineering Shop. That's not unique. What makes the building unique is its other tenant … a seven-post machine. What makes that fact unique? RCR is the only NASCAR team to have a seven-post machine on its premises. What does a seven-post machine do? It's basically a piece of machinery for testing shocks and springs using a computer program that replicates a race track's track profile. Information is collected at a track during a test. That information is then dumped into the computer system that runs the seven-post machine. What is the purpose? The goal is to dial in the best three or four spring and shock setups before the teams leave for the next race, which will free up time at the track to work on other parts of the car. Pretty cool, huh?
RCR Racing Museum
The RCR Racing Museum is a 47,000-square-foot building that is home to the 36-year history of Richard Childress Racing. Opened in May 2003, the facility incorporated the original No. 3 team race shop in the facility, the original museum and a newly built structure to tie the two together. Nearly two dozen black No. 3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolets are on display, along with nearly two dozen more vehicles whose on-the-track successes created key milestones in RCR's history. Photographs, banners, trophies, and other memorabilia complement the 14 video screens throughout the facility. The center section is the Richard Childress Wildlife Conservation Area, where many of Childress' hunting trophies are on display along with educational information from four major outdoor conservation groups. The museum supports these groups by donating $1 from each paid admission.
Go to RCRN Virtual Museum »
RCR Promotions
RCR Promotions has 15 show cars which are scheduled for more than 2,300 special events each year. Every show car is a retired race car with its own documented racing heritage. Some of the most popular show cars include the black No.3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo and the yellow and blue No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet Monte Carlo, both driven by the legendary Dale Earnhardt.
Go to RCRN Show Car Program »
RCR Warehouse
The RCR Warehouse is the nerve center of the entire organization. Every shipment of parts, pieces, equipment, and machinery is unloaded and processed at the warehouse. Each box or package is then sorted and delivered to its final destination. On the flip side, everything that gets sent out of RCR, whether it's the mail or an engine block, gets picked up by warehouse personnel and brought back to the warehouse for processing before being shipped out.
RCR Fabrication Research & Development Shop
The RCR Fabrication R&D Shop is the newest addition to the complex. The building itself has been in place for years but the work inside has changed. The Engine R&D department moved out in November 2004 when the new engine shop opened, leaving the old engine shop empty. The entire scope of work that the personnel in fabrication R&D will be doing is yet to be determined.
RCR Engine Shop
By early 2004, the workload of RCR's engine department, which builds powerplants for all of RCR's NEXTEL Cup Series and Busch Series teams as well as a number of other Cup, Busch and Truck Series teams, had outgrown the building that had been its home since late 1996. Construction began in June and the new 40,000-square foot, state-of-the-art facility opened its doors in December.
The 60 crew members who work in the RCR Engine Shop annually build nearly 400 Chevrolet racing engines from the block up. Each engine is then tested on a dynamometer and must create horsepower within one percent of the mandated level, which is approximately 850 horsepower. If it can't reach the required number, it's torn down and rebuilt. There are no ifs or maybes . a lack of horsepower is hard to overcome once a team gets to the track.
After every race, each engine is removed from the race car and returned to the RCR Engine Shop where it will be torn down back to the block and every piece and part is inspected. The build process is then begun once again.
RCR Chassis Research & Development
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RCR Engine Research & Development
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RCR Air
RCR Air is home to the fleet of aircraft and personnel that transport the more than 100 RCR team members and support personnel to and from the race track on a weekly basis. Located at a hanger at Lexington Regional Airport, just 10 minutes from the RCR complex, RCR Air's lineup of aircraft includes three 30-seat Brasilias, a Beech King Air 200 which seats 10, and a Hawker Series jet.
RCR Pit Stop Practice Shop
The RCR Pit Stop Practice Shop, located between the RCR Museum and the RCR Warehouse, houses all the spare tires and equipment used by the over-the-wall pit crews during pit stop practice. The building was originally the paint and body shop for the No. 3 team when they worked out of the facility that is now the museum.
RCR Meeting Hall
The RCR Meeting Hall is a building used primarily for company meetings and gatherings. With nearly 300 employees, RCR needs a large open space for all of the staff to meet. The RCR Meeting Hall was renovated in 2004 to improve the lighting and the overall appearance of the facility. RCR now has the capability to hold photo shoots, sponsor functions and other business and social gatherings.
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