Richard Rawlings Biography

Richard Rawlings is an American entrepreneur and media personality, best known for starring the star of the reality television show Fast N’ Loud on Discovery Channel.

Rawlings 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, Texas.

Beginning in 2014, he was featured in national television commercials promoting Dodge vehicles and financing.

In 1999, Rawlings started the printing and advertising company, Lincoln Press.

Richard Rawlings Age | How Old Is Richard Rawlings?

He was born on 30 March 1969 in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. He is 49 years old as of 2018.

Richard Rawlings Height | How Tall Is Richard Rawlings?

He stands at a height of 6 ft 0.835 in (185 cm) weighing 190 lb (86 kg).

Richard Rawlings Family

Richard Rawlings is the son of Ray Rawlings. He has one brother, John Rawlings, and two sisters Daphne Rawlings Kaminski and Angela Rawlings Warmath.

As a child, Rawlings went to auto shows with his father and constructed cars, having purchased his first at the age of 14. In the next six to seven years, Rawlings graduated from Eastern Hills High School and worked as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, and paramedic.

Richard Rawlings Wife | Richard Rawlings Spouse

Rawlings is married to Suzanne Marie Mergele. The couple first got married in 1999 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and divorced in 2009 but remarried in 2015 in Cabo, Mexico.

He was previously married to Karen K. Grames in 1993, but divorced the following year.

Richard Rawlings Kids – Richard Rawlings Daughter

Richard likes to life private hence is not known whether he has any children.

Richard Rawlings Gas Monkey Garage

In 2002, Rawlings launched Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas, and sold Lincoln Press in 2004. The shop created automobiles for customers worldwide, and since 2012, the facility has been the focus of the Discovery Channel series Fast N’ Loud.

Richard Rawlings Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill

In September 2013, Rawlings started Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill in Northwest Dallas and in March 2014, a second location was opened at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

Rawlings has indicated a desire to open a third Texas location outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.

Richard Rawlings Gas Monkey Live

Gas Monkey Live, a venue dedicated predominantly to live music, was opened in October 2014.

Richard Rawlings Cannonball Run

In May 2007, Rawlings and co-pilot Dennis Collins allegedly broke the 1979 Cannonball Run time from New York City to Los Angeles of 32 hours and 51 minutes. The two bet rival Jay Riecke they could beat the time in their 2007 Bullrun entry, a black Ferrari 550, modified with extra fuel cells. The final time is 31 hours and 59 minutes.

Richard Rawlings and Dennis Collins 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.

Richard Rawlings Autobiography

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

Richard Rawlings Net Worth | Richard Rawlings Worth

He has an estimated net worth of $15 million dollars.

Richard Rawlings House

Richard Rawlings Cars – Richard Rawlings Car Collection

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Richard Rawlings Interview

Interviewer: Yours is the No. 1 show on the Discovery Channel among men. Seems like every time I flip over, it’s Fast N’ Loud. Even you have to be sick of you.
Richard Rawlings: [laughs] Oh, probably. But I’m very blessed to be where I’m at, for sure.

Interviewer: You took a bullet trying to thwart a carjacker? 
Richard Rawlings: That was over in Fort Worth, off Oakland Boulevard. I was driving a ’65 Ford Mustang Fastback. I was 22 and in the wrong place at the wrong time. A couple of guys came up behind me and tried to pull me out of my car. Fight or flight, and I guess I flew. Ended up taking a bullet through the back of the shoulder and down the left arm.

Interviewer: You did a bunch of stuff before you became a famous television personality. You were a fireman?
Richard Rawlings: I was a police officer, firefighter, and paramedic before I was 21. My dad taught me that you get a good job that has good benefits. You spend your time, you get a gold watch, and you retire. I was actually a Miller Lite delivery guy. I am delivering beer at a bar one time, and this—I hate to use the word “drunk”—this guy who was always at the bar said, “Son, what are you going to do with your life?” I said, “Sir, I want to be a police officer.” He said, “Well, why aren’t you? You’re delivering beer!” I was 19 years old. I told him you have to have a city that is willing to put you through the police academy and all this other stuff. I’ll leave the name of the city out, but he goes, “Dammit, I’m the mayor of so-and-so city!” Two and a half weeks later, I was in the police academy.

Interviewer: I’ve seen a TMZ video of you talking smack about Jesse James. You really have a beef with him?
Richard Rawlings: I never met the guy. That video was my young, never-been-on-TV-before attempt at humor. Not one of my prouder moments.

Interviewer: Do you still hold the record for the coast-to-coast Cannonball Run?
Richard Rawlings: We did it on a bet in 2007. Fastest from 34th Street in Manhattan to Redondo Beach, California. The previous record was 32 hours, 51 minutes, set in 1979 by David Yarborough and Dave Heinz in a 1978 Jaguar XJS. Long story short, we were arguing at the bar. Everybody said it couldn’t be broken. We left the next morning, drove 2,811 miles in 31 hours and 59 minutes in a 1999 550 Maranello Ferrari. [Ed: The official Cannonball Run ended in 1979. Rawlings’ claim has merit, but another driver, using a different route, claims a faster time.]

Interviewer: Tell me about your new restaurant.
Richard Rawlings: We’re calling it Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill. It’s 11,000 square feet on the water there, on Technology Boulevard, where Firewater used to be. There are two stages, one outside, one inside. We’ll do a good lunch and dinner crowd, and then at night we’ll turn into a music venue. The garage where we tape the show is just about a mile away, and we’ll cover it on the show. It’s part of the trials and tribulations of Aaron and me trying to make a go at business.

Interviewer: Aaron is your co-star and mechanic. You both have prominent facial hair. His beard is really long, and yours is a cultivated goatee. Who spends more time primping his beard for the TV cameras?
Richard Rawlings: Definitely me. Aaron doesn’t even care. Whatever Aaron looks like in the morning when he rolls out of bed is what he looks like.

Interviewer: Money is no object. You can pick any car you want. But it’s the last car you’ll ever get to drive. What would it be?
Richard Rawlings: That’s a rough one. Because my gut says ’32 Ford Roadster. But when you throw in that it’s the only car you’ll drive for the rest of your life, I’d probably say a 599 GTB Ferrari.

Interviewer: Final question: why have I seen a photo of you on the internet wearing nothing but a G-string? Because I cannot unsee that now.
Rawlings: I know. When I meet people, I’m like, “You’ve seen the photo.” You can tell by the look on their face. That was taken about 10 years ago. That’s Aaron in the photo, with me. We were going to do the Bullrun Rally, and there was a team called the Bikini Bandits. That was their motif. Aaron and I decided it would be funny to go up against them. That’s the story of that photo. Where it went from there was internet hell.

Interviewer: You can’t scrub it clean. The internet is big.
Rawlings: That’s all right. Compared to 10 years later, I’m pretty happy with that photo.

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