Richard Rawlings | |
---|---|
Born | [1] Fort Worth, Texas, United States | March 30, 1969
Nationality | North American |
Citizenship | United States |
Education | Eastern Hills High School [2] |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 2002–present [3] [4] |
Employer(s) | Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill Gas Monkey Garage Gas Monkey Live |
Known for | Star of Fast N' Loud and "Garage Rehab" Owner of Gas Monkey Garage |
Television | Fast 'n Loud |
Spouse(s) | Karen K Grames (1993–1994) Suzanne Marie Mergele (1999–2009, 2015–2019) Katerina Rawlings (2020-Present) |
Richard Rawlings (born March 30, 1969) is an American [5] entrepreneur and media personality. He was the star of the reality television show Fast N' Loud [5] on Discovery Channel. He is also a proprietor of the Gas Monkey Garage [6] as well as both the Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill [7] and Gas Monkey Live music venues in Dallas, Texas. [8] Beginning in 2014, [9] Rawlings was featured in national television commercials promoting Dodge vehicles and financing. [9]
Rawlings was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1969. As a child he 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, he graduated from Eastern Hills High School [2]
In 1993, Rawlings married Karen K. Grames, but they divorced the following year. [10] In 1999, [11] Rawlings started the printing and advertising company Lincoln Press. [12] Also in 1999, he married his second wife, Suzanne Marie Mergele, in Las Vegas, Nevada. [10] The couple divorced in 2009, but remarried in 2015. [13] On March 11, 2019, Rawlings announced via his Twitter account that Suzanne and he were separating and filing for divorce. [13]
In 2002, [3] [4] Rawlings launched Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas, selling Lincoln Press in 2004. [14] [15] [16] [17] The shop customizes classic and hot-rod automobiles for customers worldwide. From 2012 to 2020, the business was the focus of the Discovery Channel series Fast N' Loud . [1] [18]
Rawlings also co-hosts the show Garage Rehab on the Discovery Channel since 2017, [19] which is about overhauling struggling automotive shops, along with co-hosts Russell Holmes and Chris Stephens. [20] [21] He pitched the concept to the network circa 2015. [22]
In 2022, Gas Monkey Garage became title sponsor for Peter Hickman and FHO Racing at the Isle of Man TT Races. [23]
In May 2007, Richard 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 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. [24]
In September 2013, Rawlings started Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill in Northwest Dallas [25] [26] [27] [28] and a second location at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport opened in March 2014. [29] [30] [31] Rawlings indicated a desire to open a third Texas location outside of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. [31] [32] [33]
In October 2014, Gas Monkey Live, a venue dedicated predominantly to live music, was opened. [34] The venue closed in May 2020. [35]
Rawlings, started a new restaurant venture, Richard Rawlings' Garage. The first restaurant opened in Harker Heights, Texas, in 2016, [36] and it permanently closed in March 2019. [37]
In 2019, Rawlings licensed the Gas Monkey brand to a line of energy drinks. [38]
On May 12, 2015, Rawlings published his first autobiography entitled Fast N’ Loud: Blood, Sweat and Beers. [39]
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, also known as DFW Airport or simply DFW, is the primary international airport serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the North Texas Region in the U.S. state of Texas.
The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is a metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas encompassing 11 counties. Its core cities are Dallas and Fort Worth. It is the economic and cultural hub of North Texas. Residents of the area also refer to it as DFW, or the Metroplex. The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area's population was 7,637,387 according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 census, making it the most populous metropolitan area in both Texas and the Southern United States, the fourth-largest in the U.S., and the tenth-largest in the Americas. In 2016, the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex had the highest annual population growth in the United States.
Uno Pizzeria & Grill, or more informally as Uno’s, is a United States-origin franchised pizzeria restaurant chain under the parent company Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation. Uno Pizzeria and Grill is best known for its Chicago-style deep dish pizza. Ike Sewell opened the first Pizzeria Uno in 1943.
Discovery Turbo is a pay television channel devoted to programming about transport. It is similar to Discovery Velocity and Motor Trend. It was also briefly available as an on-demand service in the US in the late 2000s.
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Genghis Grill is an interactive Mongolian Stir Fry fast casual restaurant. Customers choose their own proteins, vegetables, spices, sauces and side options from a Fresh Bar which includes over 80 ingredients. The customer then passes their selection to the Grill Master who places it on a huge round open grill. Genghis Grill has over 50 locations across the nation and offers a loyalty program, Genghis Rewards, for their frequent guests.
Fast N' Loud was a reality-styled Discovery Channel TV show featuring Richard Rawlings and his crew from the Dallas, Texas-based Gas Monkey Garage as they search for tired and run-down cars, and restore them for profit.
Bikinis Sports Bar & Grill was a chain of sports bars and restaurants located in Texas. The restaurant chain was known for its scantily-clad waitresses, called "Bikini Babes", whose uniforms consist of its eponymous bikini tops, cowboy boots, and tight denim shorts. The chain was also known for trademarking the term "breastaurant" and purchasing a ghost town that was temporarily renamed "Bikinis, Texas". The chain ceased operations on December 23, 2018.
Misfit Garage is a Discovery Channel reality-television show spun off from Fast N' Loud. It features two of the mechanics fired from that show's Dallas, Texas-based Gas Monkey Garage, Tom Smith and Jordan Butler, as well as Thomas Weeks and Scot McMillan, who together start a new company, Fired Up Garage. The series, which premiered October 13, 2014, is produced by Pilgrim Studios, with Craig Piligian, Richard Rawlings and Eddie Rohwedder as executive producers, and Craig Coffman additionally serving as executive producer for the Discovery Channel.
Aaron Kaufman is an American television personality, racing driver, and owner of Arclight Fabrication, a Dallas enterprise that supplies aftermarket components for the Ford F-100 pickup.
Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill is an American restaurant and live music bar in Dallas, Texas started by entrepreneur Richard Rawlings, who is also the star of Discovery Channel reality television show Fast N' Loud.
Gas Monkey Live was an American music venue in Dallas, Texas, owned by Richard Rawlings, star of American television program Fast N' Loud and owner of both Gas Monkey Garage and Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill.
Noon Mediterranean was an Austin-based fast casual restaurant chain. The company created the world's smallest food truck out of a Smart Car in 2011. In May 2016, it was rated ninth on Restaurant Business Online's list of Top 25 Fastest-Growing Fast Casuals. As of November 2017, Noon had 20 locations in the United States. Noon co-founder Dominik Stein was included on Forbes' "30 Under 30" list under the Food & Drink category in 2017.
Vintage Grill & Car Museum is a car museum and restaurant in Weatherford, Texas. It is located at 202 Fort Worth Highway, where it occupies a circa-1930s building that previously housed the McDavid Oldsmobile car dealership and a gas station.
Rawlings is an English-language surname. Notable people with the name include:
Season 1 of Fast N' Loud started on June 6, 2012, and ended on December 8, 2012, for a total of 14 episodes. Season 1 was filmed on location on Reeder Road in Dallas, Texas, in a shop building rented from Phipps Auto, which was also featured in the show. The Gas Monkey Garage crew worked in the back shop, while Rawlings brought Corvettes, Cadillacs, and other cars that were going to be "quick flips" to Dewaine Phipps to get them running again. Gas Monkey Garage also had an ongoing business relationship with Sue Martin, a successful Taiwanese immigrant, at ASM Auto Upholstery, a business that was literally within car-pushing distance of their shop. KC Mathieu, a long-time friend of Kaufman's and owner of KC's Paint Shop, is part of the regular GMG crew and the painter for Gas Monkey Garage. Another heavily featured member of the Gas Monkey Garage crew during Season 1 was Scot McMillan Jr., of Scot Rods Garage, who left at the end of Season 1 to work at his own shop. During Season 1, Rawlings also hired an office assistant named Christie Brimberry, who makes repeated appearances on the show. The final two episodes of the season are not available for streaming on Discovery+.
Season 2 of Fast N' Loud started on February 18, 2013, at 9 p.m. EST.
In the hit series Fast N' Loud, Richard Rawlings and Aaron Kaufman travel the back roads, searching barns and open fields for that one rare ride to restore, and choosing the right car is the trick. Rawlings is the man with the eye, the gift for seeing that rare find; while Kaufman is the master mechanic who decides whether or not these relics are too far gone or the perfect basis for an overhaul at the Gas Monkey Garage. Once Rawlings wheels and deals for a good price, it's back to the Garage to set the design plan and begin the major teardown. Then, the major work begins, but time is money and the quicker they finish their cars, the quicker they can get them to auction.