Richard Childress may be 80 years old, but his return behind the wheel at Stafford Speedway left plenty of people impressed, including Ryan Preece. 

Speaking to Frontstretch after the exhibition New England 900, the No. 60 RFK Racing driver admitted he loved seeing Childress back in action and praised his enthusiasm even at age 80.

He also reflected on the relaxed nature of the event, comparing how different it felt from the pressured environment of a regular NASCAR race weekend. 

“I mean, I feel like all of us as racers, we'd love to race, yeah, no, it was bad*** what he did, man, he was elbows up, swatting flies, he was having a good time, and I didn't get a chance to talk with him after the race was over, but I enjoyed the fact that he did it, so it was cool, it was a great time," Preece said, as uploaded by Frontstretch on X.

He added, "It's just an event, it's one where it's not serious, it is, but it's not, and, you know, it's just, it was a blast, like, coming and doing all that, and you get to hang out with all the fans, and sign autographs, and just, I don't know, it's very pure, it's very raw, it's very about what this sport was, you know, what it was, or is, and, yeah, so, I enjoyed it, for sure.”

For the first time in decades, Childress got back to competitive action, getting behind the wheel of a No. 3 black Crown Victoria, mimicking the appearance of the 2000 Chevrolet driven by Dale Earnhardt. 

Childress was invited to race in the New England 900 by content creator Cleetus McFarland. The New England 900 was eventually won by Zack Walker, with Preece coming in second. While McFarland finished 20th, Childress held up impressively to finish tenth. 

When is Cleetus McFarland’s next NASCAR appearance? 

McFarland was contracted by Childress’ team to feature in three O’Reilly races for 2 years. He made his debut in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in Rockingham earlier this year. 

He began from 35th, and he had a close call with Blake Lothian. He also got some pit road speeding penalties and spun out in the final stage of the race. However, he ended up finishing 32nd, which is commendable, as his previous race in the Truck Series resulted in a DNF. He also finished 35th at Nashville. 

While he did not get approved for racing at Superspeedways, which resulted in him missing out on a Talladega start, he has since made more appearances in the Truck Series. 

During an interaction with Carson Hocevar on The Dale Jr Download podcast, McFarland confirmed his next Truck appearance will come at Talladega Superspeedway indeed. 

“Talladega, you know our track, our spot. I'll be in ‘dega in the Niece truck,” McFarland said. 

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason