“It would be hard to replace what I’ve had with Kevin (Harvick),” Rodney Childers mused, having been tapped as the crew chief for Josh Berry, Kevin Harvick’s successor. Childers and Harvick joined hands at Stewart-Haas back in 2014, and it was the 48-year-old 2014 Cup champion who picked him as the man for the job. From the ground up, Childers shaped the No. 4 team, steering them to a championship in their debut season. 

But even with 2014’s triumphs, Childers, ever the straight shooter, recently admitted that they could have raised the bar even higher. To this day, the dynamic duo of Childers and Harvick has notched up 37-point races in the NASCAR Cup Series under their belts.

Kevin Harvick’s former crew chief confesses that the duo had a lot of first-year blues.

Rodney Childers was once hesitant to team up with Kevin Harvick due to a perceived lack of trust and teamwork but eventually saw a change in Harvick’s approach. Due to Harvick’s initial reluctance to put his faith in others, excluding Childers, they soon hit their stride on the track. The dynamic partnership led Harvick to his first Championship title. Yet, despite their five race victories in that championship year, Childers can’t shake the feeling that they left some wins on the table.

Reflecting with a hint of regret, Childers said, “I mean, we won five races that first year, but God, we should have won about 12. I mean, we had a lot of first-year blues of arms and tires blowing out and this and that like there were so many races that we could have won. I wish, you know, like we were saying earlier, like if you could go back and know the things, you know, now, I mean, gosh.”

Their strong bond nearly led Childers to consider leaving the team after Harvick announced his retirement. However, the veteran crew chief chose to stay, driven by the opportunity to work with Josh Berry as his new crew chief. But the decision did not prevent Childers from getting afraid that he would lose it again during the final weekend with Kevin Harvick.

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Rodney Childers opens up about an emotional farewell weekend with Harvick

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Speaking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Childers shared a touching moment that tugged at his heartstrings during their final weekend together. It wasn’t the fanfare or the big moments that got to him, but rather a simple, heartfelt gesture from Delana Harvick, Kevin’s wife.

Childers took a trip down memory lane, reflecting on their journey. He reminisced, “You know, so many things going on and so many people in the sport talking about what we’ve done as a group and what he’s done. I was fine pretty much the whole weekend and Delana had sat behind me the whole race like she did in 2014 when we won the championship and she grabbed me to hug me just like she did then and I lost it at that point.”

“You know I was fine once I got down off the pit box and I was worried when I got to him, I felt I would lose it again, but I was okay. Just an amazing thing to go through.”

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With the veteran joining Berry in the #4 team, we can certainly hope Rodney Childers finds that same winning chemistry with the Late-Model veteran as he did with Kevin Harvick and puts on a great show for the NASCAR audience.