The big story may be that Jim Childers won at age 82 last Saturday at Showtime Speedway. However, the bigger story may be that Childers returned to racing last year after stepping away in 2002. Jim and his wife, Charmaine Riddle Childers, crisscrossed the country for years chasing races.
“We had a really good time going to the races,” Charmaine said. “We decided we were burned out and retired from racing when Jim was in his 60s in order to watch our grandchildren grow up.”
“When our grandchildren grew up, we were sitting around getting bored,” Jim said. “We started reminiscing about friends we made and questioning things like setups we didn’t try and should have tried.”
Enter brothers Bruce and Wendell Brantley. They invited Jim to take a few laps in their sprint car.
“Jim enjoyed his test drive,” Charmaine said. “Right then I knew we could still have a lot of fun racing. So, I bought him a car.”
“Charmaine’s reaction to me driving again surprised me,” Jim said. “She wanted back in more than I did.”
Charmaine is Jim’s pit crew. She wields the jack, changes tires, and fuels the car. The Childers mount and dismount tires beginning on Monday after a race weekend.
“We work on the car pretty much every day,” Charmaine said. “Jim said it is best to work on things early in the week rather than wait to the last minute.”
Jim knows what it takes to win. He’s won the grueling Little 500 at Anderson Speedway three times and was inducted into its hall of fame in 1998.
“I have no trouble competing in a 50-lapper,” Jim said. “I don’t plan on doing any more 500-lappers at this age.”
Jim’s still spry for his age. He does yoga every morning followed by repetitive leg raises. Every other day he runs a half mile and alternates curls and push-ups to build up his upper core strength. Living on a 45-acre farm also helps.
“There are always chores to do,” Charmaine said. “We’ve learned to live and eat healthy. “We eat gluten-free foods, avoid food cooked in grease and food with sugar. Our diet is made up of lots of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains.”
Jim Childers doesn’t appear to be slowing down either. He has a new chassis on order from Hurricane Chassis.
“The new sprint car hasn’t been painted yet,” Jim said. “Charmaine hasn’t decided on a color yet. I hope she decides soon, or I might be too old to drive it.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
