What is the most converted trophy for any crew chief and driver duo in the competitive world of NASCAR? It has to be the Cup Series championship, right? However, for Rodney Childers, a triumph at the Brickyard 400 held the highest regard during his time with Kevin Harvick.

Very few races hold the prestige and historical significance of the Brickyard 400. Although there are the likes of the Daytona 500, Southern 500, and Coca-Cola 600, there’s no feeling greater than conquering the Brickyard and kissing the bricks. This is exactly what Childers stated when Harvick asked about a victory that stood out for him. The former SHR star also shared his favorite winning moment with the No. 4 team, which was neither the 2014 triumph nor the two Brickyard 400 wins.

A crown jewel win at Brickyard remains special for Rodney Childers

During his time, Kevin Harvick had already conquered the iconic race at Richard Childress Racing. However, he truly began to dominate the circuits when he was paired up with Childers at Stewart Haas Racing in 2014. This was a big bet in terms of Harvick’s career trajectory, which certainly paid off. Despite winning the title in 2014 and being a regular contender in the Championship 4 for five years, Harvick had yet to repeat his winning heroics at Brickyard.

This was also a bucket list task that his crew chief, Rodney Childers, wanted to tick off, and they did that with back-to-back wins in 2019 and 2020. So whenever Childers was asked about his sweetest wins in the Cup Series, he always had one answer. “Yeah, the boys ask me that all the time, and I still tell them the first Brickyard 400 and they just think I’m crazy. They said it was not Homestead when you won the championship. I said that doesn’t count as winning the race, like that not winning the race. That’s winning the championship.”

The 2019 win was undoubtedly a special one for the #4 team, as they started on the pole and dominated the entire race. Not only did Harvick have a great race, but his friend Clint Bowyer also performed well with a P5 finish for the No. 14 team.

“Going to the Brickyard and qualifying on the pole and like leading the whole race and just being dominant. And kissing the bricks and climbing the fence, that’s the biggest race I’ve ever won.” Childers added.

Adding to this theme of conversation, Kevin Harvick also chimed in. He could’ve picked any victory of the 37 he shared with his ex-crew chief, but he stuck with his first win at Phoenix. And he had his reasons for the same.

2014 win at Phoenix kicked off the dominance of the #4 team!

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SHR was a budding team in the NASCAR Cup Series under the leadership of Tony Stewart and Gene Haas. Although Smoke had opened the account for glory and title wins in 2011, the team was searching for a new team to carry on this winning legacy. Harvick felt added pressure to perform after switching teams. Fortunately, this iconic driver-chief partnership started on a high, registering a cup in just their second start.

“I think for me when you go back and I think it’s the very first one. When you look back at Phoenix, the amount of relief that came with that very first win and just winning so early with the team, I just feel like that got us off onto the right foot in the right direction and immediately got rid of all the naysayers of shouldn’t have done this or you need to do that,” Harvick opined.

In the modern era of the NASCAR Cup Series, this partnership between Kevin Harvick and Rodney Childers was indeed special. A lot has changed since the driver hung up his boots; SHR is closing down, whereas his ex-crew chief has found a new home at Spire Motorsports after the end of the 2024 season.