RCR Race Shop and Museum in Welcome, North Carolina

RCR, or Richard Childress Racing, is one place that I knew I had to visit when my best friend and I headed to Charlotte, North Carolina, for a week. One of my favorite drivers, Kevin Harvick, drives for RCR, and the chance to see the team working on his car was a siren song I couldn't ignore.

The first day we were in town we decided to visit the race shops in the northern part of the state, mainly because they were so far away. We left our hotel in Concord, North Carolina and made the hour long drive to RCR.

If you've never been there before, RCR is actually made up of two main buildings that visitors can check out for themselves: the Cup race shop and the museum. We stopped by last year so I could pick up some souvenirs and this time we decided to tour the RCR museum.

Admission to the RCR Museum is $12, which is a little steep in my opinion, mainly because I'm not a Dale Earnhardt fan. The museum is located in the old race shop for RCR, which is interesting because you can still see where everyone used to work. They also have signs up in place to tell you what the room was once used for. It was quite a trip to see the "no smoking" signs painted on the walls from the old days.

They also have Richard Childress's old office on display, kept exactly as it was when Dale Earnhardt raced there. The office was also where Kevin Harvick signed his contract to drive for RCR following Earnhardt's death in 2001. Unfortunately when we were there, a group of radio announcers were inside the office doing a life broadcast so we couldn't see very much.

As I said before, I'm not a Dale Earnhardt fan and unfortunately most of the museum is devoted to him. The first few rooms and areas have his cars and memorabilia on display. Only once we passed through over 30 of his cars did we get to the more modern things. We also passed a woman who will put your picture in a hero card for an extra $12. Considering how expensive the museum is, we just couldn't justify spending more money.

Also on display is a former hauler belonging to Dale Earnhardt. You can walk inside, look through the cabinets, and we even had the chance to sit inside for a few minutes. After that you can sign the memory wall using the free silver Earnhardt Sharpie they pass out in the front. I looked for the place where I signed it in February, but it had already been taken down. That should tell you how many visitors they get every month!

On the modern side of the RCR museum they have several cars that I absolutely love including Kevin Harvick's winning car from the Brickyard 400. You can even see what's left of his tires after doing one of his famous burnouts. They also have his winning Daytona 500 car on display, complete with the confetti they threw in victory lane still stuck to the car.

You'll also find Clint Bowyer's car from the same Daytona 500, where he finished the race upside down sliding across the finish line on his roof. If you look close you'll even see the grass still stuck inside. They also have several other Harvick, Bowyer, and Jeff Burton cars on display as well as cars Childress ran and a car used by Dale Earnhardt Junior.

In addition they play video clips on a loop throughout the RCR museum. We saw Earnhardt winning the 500, Harvick's first win in Atlanta, and several others. Then we found the Childress Wildlife room.

I have no problems with people hunting, but that doesn't mean I need to see their trophies stuffed and mounted. One long hallway has over 20 deer heads staring down at you. I only wish there was some way to avoid the room.

After visiting the gift shop we walked down to the RCR race shop where you can see the teams working on the cars. We managed to get a few hero cards and then headed up a long stairway to see the shop. Unfortunately the race shop is closed off so you have large panes of glass in the way. We took several pictures and most have reflections in them.

We saw the team loading up cars for all three drivers and we saw quite a lot of the cars in their various stages of completion. Once we left the race shop we found ourselves in a fairly dumpy stairway that led right outside to the parking lot. We didn't even get to go back through the lobby before we left.

The RCR museum and race shop is pretty nice, but it wasn't the best place we visited. The gift shop wasn't very well stocked unless you were looking for a man's medium or anything with Clint Bowyer on it. The charge for the museum is also pretty pricey in my opinion. The only reason I paid this time was to see Harvick's Daytona 500 car and I don't think I'll spend the money again.

The RCR museum and race shop is located at 425 Industrial Drive in Welcome, North Carolina.