When Elliott Sadler's spin at Dover International Speedway sent 10 other cars to the garage area two weeks ago, Richard Childress had two choices: Beat the traffic and head home on his private jet or help his race team fix the damage.

With a hammer in hand, Childress stuck around.

Few car owners remain as hands-on as Childress, the man who started his racing empire selling peanuts at Bowman-Gray Stadium, a tiny short track in Winston-Salem, N.C. He once paid his employees with nothing more than a promise, and their loyalty was rewarded by NASCAR-record 11 championships in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series.

Childress can afford to take it easy, but he won't. That's why he grabbed a hammer in the 90-degree heat of the garage area and pounded the dents out of Kevin Harvick's battered race car.

"It's been a trip," he said. "I'm just a racer. At the end of the day, my real business is racing."

And it's big business. Childress owns cars driven by Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer in the Sprint Cup Series and he will add a fourth full-time team next year. He also has a car, driven by Bowyer, in the Nationwide Series.

"I have a lot of people depend on us; a lot of people are counting on us," Childress said. "That's why we keep pushing forward."

As a driver, Childress made 285 career NASCAR starts with six top-five finishes. His career best was a third-place effort at Nashville in 1978. About that time, he started thinking about putting someone else behind the wheel.

The first driver Childress hired was Dale Earnhardt. To-gether they won six championships and built the foundation of a race team that continues to challenge for wins and championships.

"I saw the future and an opportunity like that only knocks once," Childress said. "I was fortunate enough to hookup with Dale and that was the best break of my life. He and I were able to accomplish a lot.

"I didn't do this stuff by myself. I remember when we had two or three employees. Now we have 450. I hope people think I'm the same guy I was back then."

Will Lind, who oversees the Cup and Nationwide programs, has been with Childress since 1982.

"To this day, he still has that fear for failing," Lind said. "He's just as relentless now for results as he was 20 years ago."

Now 62, Childress isn't ready to slow down. Like the days when he sold peanuts to help support his family, there are people counting on him.

"I hate for my people to lose," he said. "I remember back in the (19)70s at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) I came as close as I ever came to quitting. But I had four or five employees I had to take care of. Now I have 450. I can't give up."