Richard Rawlings (born March 30, 1969) is an American entrepreneur and media personality. He was the star of the reality television show '' Fast N' Loud'' on

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

. He is also a proprietor of the Gas Monkey Garage as well as both the Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill and Gas Monkey Live music venues in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas. Beginning in 2014, Rawlings was featured in national television commercials promoting

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

vehicles and financing.

Early years

Rawlings was born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, in 1969. As a child he went to

auto show An auto show, also known as a motor show or car show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is attended by automotive industry representatives, dealers, auto journalists a ...

s with his father and constructed cars, having purchased his first at the age of 14. In the next six to seven years, he graduated from Eastern Hills High School In 1993, Rawlings married Karen K. Grames, but they divorced the following year. In 1999, Rawlings started the printing and advertising company Lincoln Press. Also in 1999, he married his second wife, Suzanne Marie Mergele, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The couple divorced in 2009, but remarried in 2015. On March 11, 2019, Rawlings announced via his Twitter account that Suzanne and he were separating and filing for divorce.

Gas Monkey Garage

In 2002, Rawlings launched Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas, selling Lincoln Press in 2004. The shop customizes classic and hot-rod automobiles for customers worldwide. From 2012 to 2020, the business was the focus of the

series '' Fast N' Loud''. Rawlings also co-hosts the show ''Garage Rehab'' on the Discovery Channel since 2017, which is about overhauling struggling automotive shops, along with co-hosts Russell Holmes and Chris Stephens. He pitched the concept to the network circa 2015. In 2022, Gas Monkey Garage became title sponsor for Peter Hickman and FHO Racing at the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...

Races.

Cannonball Run/Bullrun

In May 2007, Richard Rawlings and co-pilot Dennis Collins allegedly broke the 1979

Cannonball A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...

Run time from New York City to Los Angeles of 32 hours and 51 minutes. The two bet rival Jay Riecke that they could beat the time in their 2007 Bullrun entry, a black Ferrari 550, modified with extra fuel cells. Their final time was 31 hours and 59 minutes, but much debate remains in the legitimacy of this time, as the distance and times do not match up. They were the only pair to defeat the 1975 mark by Rick Cline and Jack May in a Ferrari Dino, as all other competitors did not leave and arrive at the correct locations or took alternate routes that did not follow the original Cannonball Runs of the 1970s. Even their personal heroes Dave Heinz and Dave Yarborough in their Jaguar XJ-S that set the 1979 record left from Darien, Connecticut, instead of Manhattan.

Food and music venues

In September 2013, Rawlings started Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill in Northwest Dallas and a second location at

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is the primary international airport serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the North Texas region, in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest hub for American Airlines, which is headquartere ...

opened in March 2014. Rawlings indicated a desire to open a third Texas location outside of the

Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, ...

. In October 2014, Gas Monkey Live, a venue dedicated predominantly to live music, was opened. The venue closed in May 2020. Rawlings, started a new restaurant venture, Richard Rawlings' Garage. The first restaurant opened in Harker Heights, Texas, in 2016, and it permanently closed in March 2019. In 2019, Rawlings licensed the Gas Monkey brand to a line of

energy drink An energy drink is a type of non-alcoholic psychoactive functional beverage containing stimulant compounds, usually caffeine (at a higher concentration than ordinary soda pop) and taurine, which is marketed as reducing tiredness and improving pe ...

Autobiography

On May 12, 2015, Rawlings published his first autobiography entitled ''Fast N’ Loud: Blood, Sweat and Beers''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlings, Richard American business executives 1969 births Living people People from Fort Worth, Texas