Dale Earnhardt's Early Days: Inside Rod Osterlund's Former Race Shop with Doug Richert! (Crew Chief)

dearn Hearts emergence is a household name and racing happened at this building right here which used to be the home of Rod ustr and racing his crew chief was Doug Richard and Doug is actually going to meet us at the building and check it out for the first time in 40 years right now step towards me I would have never thought this was here I got to think this whole place right here you would never ever think this was a race shop I believe Doug is here already is that Doug yep that's Doug what's happening when was the last time You' been back here and I was just sitting here thinking 1981 I left this shop I've never been back this thing don't look anything like when I left really oh gosh I I can only imagine I probably won't even be able to recognize inside the shop just because of looks like what they've done with cubicles and you know workplaces and stuff like that so does the outside seem similar like they added doors and stuff well it does look like so that area right there where the sweet 350 is at that has been uh modified we used to have a cleaning area under there those two doors right there went went to our uh final prep that's where we put the motors in and and things like that H yeah so I I recognize that part and I'm sure the big shop has changed a whole lot is to nice to meet you how you doing Doug Richard Doug nice to meet you I was just telling him 19 1981 I left this shop and hadn't worked in it again really when it was a race team amazing do you remember that part of it no not at all I I got it and it had bars on the window I lived in a neighborhood over here at Davis Lake and I would drive by it and I I talked my wife into buying it I said Lord that's that's an opportunity to turn it around and it was vacant it had Enterprise at one end and a garage doing car repair at the other end so Ash and racing own the shop when I left and then JD Stacy came into town and he bought the whole team and that's the reason we left here me Dart Senor Rick Peters Steve Blackwell we all left and went to Richard chers raisin okay what's funny is you think about that relationship that Dale and Richard chers had it wasn't from that point though we only went up there for 6 months we left here halfway so we won the won the championship in 1980 and then our team got sold and so it was in 81 when we picked up Wrangler and all that as a sponsor we had a marketing company down at the end of that building okay on the end that's where Joe Whitlock Judy Judy Tucker that's where they handled all the pr stuff and and JY Tucker still worked for Blue Max when they were using that the the second building over there Blue Max and Rusty Wallace and all them was down there on that other side also let's uh walk around and pretend it's 1979 1980 and tell us do I have to put my work shirt on too did you bring one did you yeah put it on yeah Rambo did awesome he he started this the trend that'll be cool let me see let me see what I can find cool I knew nothing about it I'd keep running into people that would tell me stories and oh gosh yeah we us to run go-karts around the parking lot we'd wait for the train to come over here and we' go up and run the train nice that's what I I have two girls and so when I was doing this I'd do it it was my second job so to speak but I do it at nights and weekends and and I um I had seven go-karts here my kids would want to come to be like Dad can we come and help you work you know they wouldn't help me they'd ra i' put cones out thatd race their go-karts around and then um you know and I'd be inside trying to add sheetrock or you know cut metal doors down I know know where the dino room was up there it's actually right there and then you had another one here probably and then and then there was this room that was like for lack of a better word a huge pressure washing room yeah cleaning room that was right here on this back side well there was a motor shop in there okay that that the motor room was out in front of this section here I could I was we saw that thing out of there it took weeks you know it was huge hey it still fits that's impressive that's from 79 a lot of people that couldn't do that look at that that's awesome yeah yeah even I can't even forget who I was who painted a face on your back I know I can't I can't look at the back of it I have no idea I I don't know who did it somebody messing around of course you know you roll the window up so did you have to walk around the track back in the day with a smiley face on your back one day or was that like your shop shirt no this was like after I got gone well look speaking of the train yeah train here it comes so these two rooms right here was where we did final preparation on the race car uhhuh so we'd go in there we' put the motor in we'd set them up and stuff like that we kept the hauler out back here we all loaded from the behind but yeah I don't know what's behind those doors now storage for storage for a business out front oh you're obviously doing pretty good because I drove by the front it looked like all occupied it's a home run absolutely home run racing to retail racing to retail some RR like I said that that Center building was the only building here up on top was the full cran system was that here when you got here yes it's still there still in there yeah yeah so that was the one thing we really we liked that was our Fab shop that's where we did all the building we built our own chassis um rear ends all the suspension work everything like that is all done in there pick a car up go down to the end awesome and they had the lights that would swing in and out yep just to get out of the way and that was because of the crane yeah so we can we can move stuff along and then swing the light back out okay I didn't realiz yep it makes perfectly good sense I didn't realize that the necessity was the crane so we didn't have a full-blown Body Shop The Body Shop was just right over here built in into the double doors there and it was just basic enough to get a car painted which that's what I was thinking was double do right there those on painting that was a that was a pain Bo that's right okay all three paintings so you see where the square the squares are in the door that's where the filters yeah this this is the kind of stuff we like to look at is what what is still left from that that you wouldn't notice yeah cuz you could walk back here and look at this but you wouldn't know that that's where filters went unless somebody was here to tell you that's what it was like a tattoo shop in there now you know so but when I was talking about the body shop part all we did was paint and Bondo work in there but over there like nowadays you have a rotisserie they call it and they put they hook it on each end of the car and you just turn it upside down and you stand there and you paint it we didn't have rotisseries back then but we had a crane so we pick the car up we go all the way out as far as it would go and we made 6ot tall jack stands and we just set the car on jack stands and we stood there and we painted the car that's that's how we did the bottom of the car back then nice but it was the crane we were really kind of one of the first shops that actually had our own parts room in it which Butch Stevens uh created BSR products they were very successful but he was here and got our parts department started we were building our own chassis we actually started selling chassis to other competitors and things like that out of of here too Jim Delaney and JY Simpson was our two main Fabricators that worked in here and they both passed unfortunately but that they they were spearheaded all the mechanical side do you remember uh Lake speed renting a spot in the building next to that one oh yeah you were there when he was there uhhuh huh well I remember it let's say that you got to remember early on I left early but I do remember it after the fact and that's what it was for we built that just for leasing out okay tell people I had no idea what to do this building I thought this was going to this was going to be my nem so it was like there there's a huge mezzanine up here that had a steel floor you could look down yeah and we use that a lot for storage that's what I was thinking that it was oils greases we used to get a lot of stuff from unical and and it had lock up cages and stuff and that's because it was also a parch department on this end of the building okay was there the staircase up to the mezzanine right here yeah yeah we can go up there you'll laugh yeah oh try to unlock the door somebody in there maybe what was this room was that there before oh good good good good oh cool cool cool somebody's in I didn't even know it locked so this was this is all original here yeah so so this right here you get me a lot ah still got stuff up huh but um yeah and and I was even laughing I was like I should have I probably should have like when I cut the stuff out I probably should have said you know Dale Earnhart Dale Earnhart cuz I'm like they all probably took showers in this crazy thing is that the same shower you remember a little I mean it's it's hard hard to me remember stuff that that was a long time I know I got a good memory it's just so that was the front of the building upstairs is the mezanine this was built on and then Roland woa had his office here gold ceiling this was an office area and then that led into the motor room gotcha and then cuz he was he kind of spearheaded building the motors and stuff at first and then L LA Roa came along he he started doing the motors and stuffff and so then that was all built and then we you know then we moved to the backside and built it here you for prepping the cars so I've only ever found I think two pictures of inside this building got some I've got some somewhere I could not find them I'm terrible I got buckets of pictures around I I always thought that the cars when I looked at it and saw those lights that they would be built like this but they were actually built along the wall right like the cars were the cars we had surface plates on each side the center was open so that we could pull stuff in and out okay had forklifts we had the the lift you know we did a lot of a lot of moving stuff where's that crane at you can see go take a look at it yeah I want to see the crane that's like the surviving Jewel of my kids are myself my kids are all in their late 20s now but this was um their hangout so to speak in high school notice the stairs we're about to go up right now are not there in this picture that's taken in probably 1978 or so somebody correct me but you can see those electrical boxes up there right right to the right of that doorway they are the same boxes that are in there right now I would think maybe Stacy or Blue Max or someone of those other teams after ostland mov the stairs over to make the upper mezzanine bigger but the doorways are all in the same place and the electrical boxes are the same as they are here in this picture when you're like 15 or 16 it's a miserable time right you can't do do anything you know are these the same stairs that we're in here yeah so these are the same stairs this is kind I need to start to get interesting now yeah look like a little Lounge I need to call it dusties because it's always Dusty in here but you used to have little parties and stuff in here and that's cool whatnot so so this is the mezzanine right and then that was a cage like a metal you know like a lock up for expensive Parts probably yeah it was and then we also I think we had it closed off underneath too I don't know what you had when because we operated out out of the bottom on an on an everyday basis yeah and you always had to you know parts were parts right it's easy to walk away with right everybody tries to keep it on it's kind of neat what you did I didn't know what to do with it you know and and I had a buddy game room I had a buddy here that um was helping me he was my age you know we're getting older it's hot in the summertime stuff and so I'd be like Kevin if you if you get tired or overheated go up into this room cuz I could this I didn't know what to do with this space you know it was the last thing I fixed up the other ones first and rented them out and um I said come and hang up you know hang out up here and you know rest or whatever so I got like a lazy boy chair and then the next next thing I said you know Kevin I went to high school with this guy he's a super nice guy and I said Kevin let's get a pool table my wife is looking for me one day I don't know who's coming art art Kevin art and I'm like oh know any of this stuff's up here you know and she comes up the stairs you know what do you got what are you doing and I'm like I got this our break room I said Kevin man I don't want you hurt yourself trying to help me out working so this is our break room and then the crane and stuff can you still see it yeah so oh yeah there's the rail and that's the beam it wrote on that's the beam and that's the beam right there I I wouldn't have known how to remove it you know some of this stuff was kind of done on the Fly this is the disco dance room college kids things that they didn't mirrors on the ceiling did you take those from over Roland's desk no I figured the ceiling this guy rented space for me over the industrial park that I have and what it is is it they hang it in I don't think it took off in America cuz sheet rockers and whatnot but they they hang it in and then they take a heater and and it shrinks up and cool yeah so really cool and uh so he did he did that this guy I have a disco ball at home this guy need you need I need your disco ball it's real 28 in diameter disco I got the motor to spin it and everything I'll take it baby did you expect anything like this to be in here when you pulled up no no like this is kind of cool sorry yeah so I got the the DJ thing I I rented it out the space I'm super pumped to tell you guys about our new channel partner and that is channel loock I think everybody has dealt with a pair of these things before with the famous blue handles you know exactly what I'm talking about and they're actually less than an hour from where I grew up in Pennsylvania so this is a really special one for me since 1886 Chanel loock has been continuously engineering specialty pliers to meet the needs of the Trad people who rely on them and they're not stopping now we got something really cool that they just released recently to show you guys janock is proud to release its all new specialty locking pliers we've been using these things for a while in the shop now and they are freaking awesome so look at this I got it set now where it takes a good bit of strength to clamp it and I can pu it with my with my pinky I can get it apart it will not pinch your hands and adjustable lock nuts on the back so you don't lose your position got drop Forge jaws and chrome vadium steel construction for excellent durability plus a really tough epoxy resin coating the channel lock professional locking pliers are made in over 13 different sizes and configurations help us help bring you more racing history and awesome car stuff by checking out our specific product Link in the description for channel loock we'd love to do some more stuff with them and you can help make that happen support brands that support things you like that's how we keep racing alive um I used to rent it out for parties and um and then the fire marshal was like you can only have 40 49 people so then I started calling it 49 or less you know parties after 6 49 or less here's the crane the the crane and then all the lights you know I didn't and all the that's what you took down yeah on a budget I didn't now they're they're still hooked right oh they're still hooked up sure oh those are the swing out lights they pivoted from each post there's more evidence here than I expected yeah no way yeah so I would I wouldn't have thought that this was still in here but sure enough I if I if I had had more you know a higher budget to work with I probably could have made made some money off of having it renewed I I didn't know what to do with it you know even that part of the crane somebody could actually that's probably the most sellable thing there right does it have any markings on it that say osterland or Blue Max or anything like that I it still works oh yeah that is awesome cool enough who would ever Thun it I not not me I was not prepared for this you left one of your go-karts here was that here no it was here but yeah I stuck it over there they found it in one of the buildings that's probably like a million years old right CU your all the L so this is this stuff that you put in the yeah I did this floor and tried to do the suspended ceiling just to make small unit so I called them keyman offices you know in order to rent them out now they're all you know they're all rented now and there's a a uh grocery store in the front the ladies is um Mexican I believe but it's South American type food so she doesn't have to compete with food line and what right cool yeah yeah this is different this is sp towards me I would have never thought this was here I got to take pictures of my myself I I I would have thought that like my buddy Dave uh he started with me he went back to California we he we lived here you know he'll get a kick out of this the crane and I can't believe he can still push the button and it works I know like you should uh push the button you know like take a picture with the the controller hey Dave I want you to check this out I'm in the original building that we started with at Asal and racing and look at this the creen is still here and check this out it still works this guy bought the whole building and stuff he we come up here and the train still working you believe it no way and you remember the lights that we had hung on the on the beams they're still on there where you can swing them out of the way who would have thought that all right that's that's the austring throwback for Wednesday see you da you think he has any pictures from in here back in the day well yeah I have them somewhere somebody's got to have them it's I have them I do actually I I can't find them maybe we could sit on I look again this morning but it shows the shop and I think it I think it shows where we had the car up on jack stands at the end of the building and some stuff with the surface plates and everything inside I just can't find it you want us to take your picture with the crane yeah oh yeah there's your a trophy back in the day we've used this cram we could pull metal in off the truck pick it up move it back I mean I guess a crane is like a if you have a fork left right you were lucky to have it right probably it was here why take it out oh so it came with the building it was here all right yeah and and and could you drive a truck out that end when you guys were here not a semi okay cuz if fence is so closed you just couldn't get it in and out all right cuz th this door right here would open and close I didn't get rid of the door I just used it because I didn't have the money to you know what I mean right so like I just closed this door and put these French doors in but they're still on the tracks and so a semir TR could drive in here and the other one's the same way so at some point somebody was able to drive a big semi truck in here and out the other side and we never did that you didn't uhuh but but but you did roll these doors open open right you could roll these doors open and have the whole place opened up or you don't remember that I the whole back side of the building was this this is all one door right yeah well one went all the way down to the ground yeah like a barn yeah all the way down to the ground we could open them yep still cuz that's what we did when we put the car on jackan okay yeah still that way all the way down to the ground some of…