“It really wasn’t a shock, even though it was the first time that we had heard it, you know, from a truthful source,” said Rodney Childers a few days after Tony Stewart and Gene Haas announced the heartbreaking closure of Stewart-Haas Racing. While the man on the screen appeared calm and collected as he rehashed the incidents, the inner turmoil was palpable.

The co-owners had the luxury of dusting their hands off, but the 300 odd employees, who were left stranded mid-season, did not.

Childers, the mastermind behind

Kevin Harvick‘s championship wins, recently broken his silence on this exact doomed feeling.

Sharing the state of chaos that the news brought, he said on the 46th episode of the ‘Happy Hour’ podcast, “I kinda expected to maybe lose one team at SHR. I never expected to lose them all. I expected to still have a home to be able to race and to do the things that we have done in the last ten and a half years. Like you said, there was 300 people that were really mad and it took a week to get over that and to kinda refocus.”

The crew chief, once again, maintained his composure about the whole ordeal. But his former driver Harvick didn’t as he took a dig at the team, saying, “I was mad when when all the all the news actually came out because of the way that it all went and and just kind of the way that things were were handled and, you know, you feel like you know you put in all this time over over 10 years to build something and and then all of a sudden it’s just not run very well and then it gets it gets shut down.”

And Harvick’s not wrong, to be honest. If you pay a visit to the pit road any racing weekend, chances are you’ll most probably see Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon or Joe Gibbs on the sidelines. On the other hand, how often have we seen SHR owner’s grace a venue? Last year, Stewart was even heavily criticized as he missed the retiring #4 driver’s photo session after his last race (an occasion that even Harvick’s JRM boss Dale Earnhardt Jr attended). As for Gene Haas, his F1 commitments (read: Haas F1 team) have evidently taken top priority over the last few years.

All these accusations were only aggravated when Harvick let slip how disinterested SHR team owners were in NASCAR. Back in May, when the 2014 Cup Series champion was filling in for Kyle Larson (attempting the ‘Double Duty’), he had revealed a major difference between HMS and his former home: “I mean I heard from the (RCR) owner twice in two weeks so that’s different.”

As for Childers, he joined Kevin Harvick in 2014. They won the championship that year and went on to make the Championship-4 five times; this also included 40 wins the duo added to the team’s trophy cabinet. Imagine giving a decade to a company only to be laid off suddenly.

And then add to it Chase Briscoe’s candid admission last month: “At our place, we’re trying to figure out how we’re going to provide for our families next year, where we’re going to work next year,” and you’ll understand exactly how heartbreaking the situation is.

While Briscoe has secured a seat at Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2025 season and Childers at Spire Motorsports, leading the charge for the No. 7 team, what about the others? Well, all we can tell you is Rodney Childers did try to help, only to face failure.

Revealing how he wanted his #4 team to join him at Spire, the crew chief revealed, “We had a lot of conversation of where we can take the whole group and the realistic part of it is that it’s not a very good option right? I mean it’s not gonna happen so the whole group has been outstanding, all of it.”

Apparently, he did sour Josh Berry’s feelings too, as the rookie driver wanted to stick around with him. But the good news is, despite the two heading to different homes next season, they aren’t giving in without a last hooray!

#4 SHR team wants to be back in the victory lane

“After my announcement, things felt a bit awkward for a few days. I felt particularly bad for Josh [Berry] because I know he wanted me to join him,” Rodney Childers candidly admitted. The duo has had quite a memorable run till now with four Top-10s and two Top-5s—not too bad for a rookie. But how soon can that become a win?

The last time the No. 4 SHR Ford was in the victory lane was back in the 2022 season at Richmond. It was Kevin Harvick who led the charge for the team, and this was also the last time Stewart Haas Racing won a Cup race. While there are a few who have doubts regarding Berry’s capability to win races, that is exactly what Rodney Childers and his team are looking to overturn in the remainder of the 2024 season.

“You know for us we really want to win a race with Josh. We want to show that he can do it. I think we already have it, but you know how it is, you wanna win a race, and you want to go and spray beer and champagne and do all that things. So we’re working really hard for that, trying to give him the best car we can and trying to make sure that we have his back.” Rodney Childers added.

And well, Dale Jr’s advice to his driver might work in the team’s favor. Quite understandably, Berry was growing tired of having the pressure to perform with his entire career on the line and he expressed the same to Junior. The #4 driver told Frontstretch in early-June, “I think back to some advice Dale Jr. gave me about over a year ago, maybe it was around the time when I drove the #9 car and I was like ‘Man I’m so tired of racing for my life every lap, every practice and every qualifying session.’ And he said, ‘That’s when you’re at your best’, so that’s what we plan on doing for the rest of the year’.”

Berry is slated to join Wood Brothers Racing next year. Hopefully, Rodney Childers’ wish will come true soon. What do you think?