The Dale Earnhardt Jr-owned CARS Tour has seen unbelievable growth in recent years. Since its inception in 2015, the series has shown potential to be a reputed competition for short-track drivers. Owing to the contributions of other renowned co-owners Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Justin Marks, CARS Tour has successfully delivered on its promise.

Among the recent additions to the executive team, Kip Childress’s recruitment as the executive director has worked wonders. CARS Tour announced the decision to hire the veteran in July last year, and since then, he has been a core member of the competition’s plans. Childress was present at the recently concluded NMPA convention, and in a conversation with Frontstretch, he revealed the secret behind CARS Tour’s recent success.

Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kevin Harvick are very active owners: Kip Childress

Many NASCAR drivers have taken the chance to transition into ownership. While Dale Earnhardt Jr is one of the most prominent names, Kyle Larson and Tony Stewart have followed in his footsteps recently. Having supplied his brains for the growth of the Xfinity Series team JR Motorsports, Junior had prior experience in managing a team’s expectations and strategy execution.

Recently, the CARS Tour has also been an attractive offer for sponsors. One of the many examples of it would be a change in its entitlement sponsor from Solid Rock Carriers to zMAX. These opportunities have come at the behest of the stars in control of the competition and watching it up close, Kip Childress has a good understanding of it.

A key aspect of making a competition successful is fulfilling the drivers’ needs. With the CARS Tour promising quality racing on some of the best short tracks across the country, it was already posed for success. However, the understanding of a driver’s sentiment came with the presence of Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kevin Harvick.

“I guess it does make it easier because they are going to look at everything we do from a driver’s eyes, and not just that, but they have been owners,“ said Childress.

“Two of them are very active owners in the CARS Tour with Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kevin Harvick and both of their teams. They understand what the business model needs to be for those teams, and that’s a real challenge, too, because what we do helps those teams come to the racetrack.”

Besides being a proven battleground for established short-track drivers and late-model professionals, the CARS Tour has also been an excellent launchpad for youngsters like Caden Kvapil and Katie Hettinger. These are some indications of how far the series has come since 2015. As the conversation with the media personnel continued, Kip Childress elaborated on what he brought to the CARS Tour management.

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Childress’ addition has enhanced the competition

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Having served as NASCAR’s assistant director and pace-car driver for 15 years before joining Dale Earnhardt Jr in his venture, Kip Childress is knowledgeable in executing a competition’s vision.

“I’ve been able to teach them a bit from a competition side, from an officiating standpoint. Our job is not that easy sometimes, we have to make tough calls and decisions,” revealed Childress. There have been instances of unruly driving where young drivers have lost their composure. Cases like these require some harsh decisions to be made.

Maintaining proper guidelines and etiquette is also essential to the series’ growth. Adding Kip Childress brought that stern and resolute approach, which worked out well for the CARS Tour. As for how the decisions are carried out in the hierarchy, Childress believes that the four owners have been transparent with each other, which is a tremendous positive.

“With that, I think the one thing that I’ve taken out is that those four owners, they are such a dynamic group, able to really communicate with each other,” claimed Childress.

With time, it seems inevitable that the CARS Tour will take its rightful place as America’s premier short-track racing competition. It is safe to say that Dale Earnhardt Jr’s vision of the competition has materialized successfully.

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