A Lifelong Racer: RCR Enterprises Interior Specialist Chad Tigert

By Ben White

Chad Tigert, interior specialist for RCR Enterprises and driver Paul Menard, doesn’t remember when he wasn’t involved in some form of racing. The Oklahoma native was already around dragsters before seeing his first NASCAR race as a child.

“My Dad took me,” Tigert said. “It was in Texas Motor Speedway, and it was probably 1998. I was involved in drag racing long before that. My Dad did some drag racing back in the 1960s and I went to work at an auto repair shop when I was a sophomore in high school.”

His path into NASCAR was paved through a mutual friendship.

“I graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University spring of 1997 in business management,” Tigert said. “Our public relations person with the drag race team was good friends with Kevin Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt’s crew chief. Kevin wanted to drive a Pro-Stock truck and we set up a meeting so he could. He told me if I ever wanted to come over to the NASCAR side to give him a call. I started at 2004, and that’s been the only team I’ve been with.”

Tigert began mounting seats in the shop and became an interior specialist for various RCR teams, including Chevrolets driven by Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and various Xfinity Series drivers before it eventually became the present No. 27 Cup team.

Unlike many of this friends working with other Cup teams, he has remained with one team owner, Richard Childress, since he came to NASCAR.

“Mainly, I enjoy the competition side of the sport and competing on race day,” Tigert said.

QUOTE: “It’s a job that I’ve wanted to do since I was very young. I enjoy the work I do very much. I was all about anything that had a motor when I was a kid. I loved anything fast.”

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