NASCAR legend Richard Childress offers to donate 1 million rounds of ammo to Ukraine
Childress said the Russian invasion is "a wake-up call for America"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Richard Childress is stepping up to help the people of Ukraine defend their country against Russia.
The legendary NASCAR driver and team owner has committed to donating one million rounds of ammo to the armed forces of Ukraine.
Richard Childress has run Richard Childress Racing since 1969. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
"I was listening the other day and heard President Zelenskyy say he didn't want out, he wanted ammunition," Childress told Fox and Friends host Brian Kilmeade on Wednesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I called my good friend Fred Wagenhals, who is the Chairman of AMMO, Inc., which is a publicly traded company, POWW, and I said, 'Fred, we gotta help these people. They need ammunition.' And he stepped right up, he said, ‘We’ll do it,’ and now we’re turning our production to this as our number one priority."
Richard Childress Racing driver, Austin Hill, won the Xfinity Series Beef. It's What's For Dinner. 300 at Daytona International Speedway. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Childress is a member of AMMO’s board of directors and has a persona net worth estimated at $250 million.
"This is a wake-up call for America, and why we have to have our Second Amendment. We have 82 thousand, 82 million gun owners in America, and to see the people in Ukraine fighting — it's terrible to see the lives that are being lost over there," he explained when asked why the cause meant so much to him. "We have to do all we can, and I felt with Ammo Inc. and myself, we were doing the right thing.
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As far as the logistics of getting the ammo to the front lines, it’s not as easy as boxing it up and putting in on a plane.
"We're working with some government agencies, but to get it there quickly, we're going to work through a private company that will be working to get it in there," Childress said. "The number one ammo they're needing right now over there is the 7.62s, and that's what we're going to be producing."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon finished second in the Auto Club 400 in Fontana, Calif. (John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Childress’ NASCAR Cup Series team, Richard Childress Racing, and currently fields cars for Tyler Reddick, who won the first two stages at last weekend’s Auto Club 400 before a flat tire took him out of contention for the win, and his own grandson, Austin Dillon, who finished the race in second place behind Kyle Larson. RCR has won six Cup Series championships since it was founded in 1969.