It’s easy to admire the guy standing on Victory Lane, champagne in hand, grinning for the cameras. Fans chant their hero’s name, and TV crews fight for a word from the latest race winner. But what about the person standing in the background? The one whose fingerprints are on every tire pressure adjustment, every pit strategy and every tiny tweak that turned an average car into a race-winning beast?

Meet Rodney Childers a man who’s been playing 4D chess with stock cars while barely getting a nod of recognition. Although he’s past his glory days of working with Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart, his role and responsibility haven’t changed a bit with the new team – Spire Motorsports.

P19, P24, and P16 are the results Childers and his driver Justin Haley have managed since the start of the 2025 campaign. Certainly not a good look for Spire Motorsports’ flagship program. Even Childers wasn’t content with a 16th place finish at COTA, which is by far their best result, “Not indicative of the car we had and the effort put in by@Justin_Haley_and all of the guys in the 7 team.”

Competing at the top level of NASCAR racing is unforgiving and it’s the crew chiefs who often feel the heat with a lack of results. We saw what happened with Bootie Barker and Chris Gabehart after the conclusion of the 2024 Cup Series season. So how does, a championship-winning crew chief ensure his team is on the right path and ready to tackle the challenges? Well, Brittany Isenhour asked the same question to Rodney Childers, and for him, the secret to success is to be on the top of his game.

“Everything. Travel to the cars, managing people, hiring people. Honestly, just trying to be there for all the employees and help make their jobs better.” Childers described his role. If that sounds like a full-time job, that’s because it is. But that’s only half of it. Being a crew chief isn’t just about turning wrenches. It’s about making thousands of micro-decisions that add up to either victory or heartbreak. Childers describes it best: “Really, just supporting everybody. Being the best manager I can be and giving them the tools and the information that they need to do their jobs the best that they can do.”

While the results on the racetrack are not where the #7 team would like them to be, this opportunity at Spire is a big switch for Childers especially if we are to compare them with his past few years at SHR. “For anybody in this world, all you want is to feel wanted and loved, and I felt that through them. I also see it as a place that can be good for my family, long term.” These were Childers words when he was announced as the new crew chief of the #7 team. So he is determined to make a difference at Spire with all the expertise he developed at Stewart Haas Racing.

But despite making a switch to Spire after SHR’s exit from NASCAR, the veteran crew chief couldn’t help but relieve the life-changing moment he shared with Kevin Harvick.

Rodney Childers recalls the life-changing 2014 Cup Series campaign with Harvick

Childers’ career hasn’t been all torque wrenches and tire changes. His transition from aspiring driver to top-tier crew chief wasn’t exactly a smooth road. Back in the early 2000s, when NASCAR was experiencing some of its darkest days, Childers was shaken by the deaths of Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin Jr., and Dale Earnhardt Sr. “It just stacked up,” he recalled. “It was a breaking point for me.”

The dream of becoming a driver faded, but the love for the sport didn’t. He switched gears and took on a role that would shape NASCAR history, playing a pivotal role in Kevin Harvick’s 2014 Cup Series championship. It was a new project with Harvick making the switch from RCR and Childers getting his first big opportunity. Well, they fired off right from the get-go and won the Profit on CNBC 500 race at Phoenix Raceway. Just the second race on the NASCAR schedule which eventually paved the way for championship glory later in the season.

One of the fan pages on Instagram celebrated Harvick’s championship run which eventually caught Childer’s attention. “This was the day that started it all.. And a day I will never forget.. 🏁
@KevinHarvick.” The veteran crew chief wrote on X. After the win in Phoenix, the #4 car sat on the victory lane at tracks like Darlington, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. However, it was the back-to-back wins at Phoenix followed by the victory at Homestead Miami Speedway that etched their names into NASCAR history.

Now that Childers has made his way to another aspiring race team and linked with another talented driver, it’s tough not to draw parallels with the 2014 campaign. But, unlike SHR, Spire Motorsports is still looking to develop its program and therefore the expectations have to be realistic. A potential playoff spot for Justin Haley and the No. 7 team would be huge for them.