Richard Rawlings

Richard Rawlings
Born	Richard Ray Rawlings (1969-03-30) March 30, 1969[1][2] Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Residence	Texas
Nationality	American
Citizenship	American
Education	Eastern Hills High School[3]
Occupation	Businessman mechanic reality television star
Years active	2002–present[4][5]
Employer	Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill Gas Monkey Garage Gas Monkey Live
Known for	Star of Fast 'n Loud Owner of Gas Monkey Garage
Height	6 ft 0.835 in (185 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg)
Television	Fast 'n Loud
Spouse(s)	Karen K Grames (1993[6]–1994)[7] Suzanne[8] Marie[9] Mergele (1999–2009, 2015–present)[10][11]
Relatives	Daphne Rawlings Kaminski (sister)[3][12]

Richard Rawlings (born March 30, 1969) is an American^[13] entrepreneur, auto mechanic and media personality. He is the star of the reality television show Fast N' Loud^[13] on Discovery Channel. He is also a proprietor of the Gas Monkey Garage^[14] as well as both the Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill^[15] and Gas Monkey Live music venues in Dallas, Texas.^[16]

In 2014,^[17] 2015 and 2016 Rawlings was featured in national television commercials promoting Dodge vehicles and Dodge vehicle financing.^[17]

History

Early years

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 automobile at the age of 14. In the next six to seven years, he graduated from Eastern Hills High School^[3] and claims to have worked as a law enforcement officer, firefighter and paramedic.

In 1993, Rawlings was briefly married to Karen K. Grames, but divorced the following year.^[18] In 1999, he married his second wife Suzanne Marie Mergele in Las Vegas, Nevada^[18] (the couple divorced in 2009, however remarried in 2015 in Cabo, Mexico).^[19] That same year^[20] Rawlings started Lincoln Press,^[21] a printing/advertising company.^[22]

Gas Monkey Garage

In 2002,^[4][5] Rawlings launched Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas, selling Lincoln Press in 2004.^{[23][24][25][26]} This shop created and transported automobiles for customers worldwide. Since 2012, the facility has been the focus of the Discovery Channel series Fast N' Loud.^[2][22][27]

Cannonball Run/Bullrun

In May of 2007 Richard Rawlings and co-pilot Dennis Collins allegedly broke the famous 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. They were the only pair to defeat the 1975 Mark by Rick Cline and Jack May in a Ferrari Dino as all other competitors didn't leave and arrive at the correct locations or took alternate routes that didn't follow the original Cannonball runs of the 1970's. Even their personal heroes of Dave Heinz/Dave Yarborough in their Jaguar XJ-S that set the 1979 record actually left from Darien Connecticut and not Manhattan. ^[28]

Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill

In September 2013, Rawlings started Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill in Northwest Dallas^{[29][30][31][32]} with a second location at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport opened in March 2014.^[33][34][35] Rawlings has indicated a desire to open a third Texas location outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.^[35][36][37]

Gas Monkey Live

In October 2014, Gas Monkey Live, a venue dedicated predominantly to live music, was opened.^[38]

Autobiography

On 12 May 2015, Rawlings published his first autobiography entitled Fast N’ Loud: Blood, Sweat and Beers.^[39]

References