Tony Stewart’s Ugly NASCAR Exit Left SHR Insider Hoping for an Offer From Rick Hendrick and Joe Gibbs Amid Failing Expectations

Who knew even veterans like Rodney Childers would struggle to find a job these days? But that’s the grim reality Kevin Harvick’s championship-winning crew chief realized in late-May.

Since it was made clear that Tony Stewart would be exiting his once-glorious race team, Childers was open about his concerns regarding the futures of all Stewart-Haas employees, and not just his own. He was scrambling for opportunities with some big names like Gibbs and Hendrick, awaiting uncertain deadlines on his future.

Thankfully, TJ Puchyr & Jeff Dickerson of Spire Motorsports were not ones to make hollow promises. And Rodney certainly appeared grateful when he talked about his hardships with Kevin Harvick recently.

In a heartfelt revelation on Ep. 46 of his Happy Hour podcast, Childers shared his journey after the closure news: “You know, right after Stewart-Haas made their announcement, I felt so fortunate those next seven days. I talked to everybody in the garage. Like every team reached out. And I just felt so blessed and fortunate that these people were reaching out. I’m like, ‘I have a chance to go there, I have a chance to go there’. And I talked to all of them.“

However, despite his impressive resume, the opportunity he was looking for was hard to come by. “You know I think after you do the things that you and I did together and win 37 races together… Your goal is to maybe end up at Hendrick one day or to end up at Gibbs one day or end up at Trackouse or one of these big teams. And it seemed like it, after that first week it just wasn’t going anywhere,” Childers admitted.

From the age of 12, Rodney Childers has seen everything there is to see in racing. He won Karting championships at the National level as a young boy. He helmed 37 of Harvick’s total 60 Cup Series wins. He won the very Cup Series championship as Kevin Harvick’s #4 team crew chief in 2014. Yet, ten years later, in 2024, Childers watched the shine from that trophy fade off a little.

And especially when Harvick’s replacement Josh Berry is somewhat struggling in the present season, with two Top-5s and four Top-10s (far from what Childers achieved in his time with Harvick) it was no easy job. Talking about the setback the crew chief suffered, he shared with his former driver, “I had conversations with different people and it just wasn’t going there… And everybody would kind of say, ‘Well, we might have something in three or four months or we might not’… “

However, like people say, all’s well that ends well, and now the veteran crew chief is gearing up for a stint at Spire. While that’s excellent news for Childers, his equation with Josh Berry did take a hit. As the crew chief himself admitted, things had gotten “awkward” between the two after the announcement came forth. 

But the most recent bearings from Spire Motorsports are signaling a big driver shuffle for the #7 car that Childers will supervise in 2025.

Corey LaJoie left without a ride as poor performances catch up to him

On July 24, Corey LaJoie announced via the Athletic that he would be stepping away from the #7 operations at Spire Motorsports in 2025 after a three-year association. The organization and LaJoie had a multi-year agreement that ran through the next season but as he officially announced mid-week: “…unfortunately the future won’t involve me.” 

If you ask team co-owner Jeff Dickerson, though, LaJoie’s dismissal was clearly linked to his lack of consistent performances as he mentioned, “Those days, looking back, were so much simpler than where we are in our journey now. Back then, we just wanted to get to the racetrack. Today, we’re consumed with consistently battling for top-10 finishes and contending for wins in the near future.”

“In racing, there are always variables, but one thing we all know, is this is a performance-based business, and it just hasn’t been there for several reasons. All those reasons are factored in when it comes to making a decision of this magnitude,” the team owner further said.

Notably, the existing #7 crew chief, Ryan Sparks, will be moving to a primary role as the race team’s competition director. It is still unclear who will be driving the car under Rodney Childers. But if rumors prevail, it could be Justin Haley or someone from Trackhouse Racing’s overflowing roster, joining on a temporary loan deal like Zane Smith, currently sitting in Spire’s #71 entry.

LaJoie has only clinched two Top-10s since 2021, with his career-best P4 coming this year at the Daytona 500. After for the current season, the 32-year-old driver only has one Top-10 and one Top-5.

But the question now arises: how will Rodney Childers adapt to these changes in 2025? The answer is quite simple – like Rodney Childers has over the last couple of decades or so in NASCAR. With a brand-new chance and an unknown factor playing its flute in 2025, the Stewart-Haas shutdown might bear lighter than before on his mind.