Childers, former Cup champion, new crew chief in JR Motorsports Xfinity Series

Rodney Childers Finds New Home at JR Motorsports

The renowned race engineer, Rodney Childers, who led Kevin Harvick to the Cup Series championship in 2014, has secured a new position after his departure from Spire Motorsports in April. Childers will assume the crew chief role at JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series, for the No. 1 Chevrolet, which will be shared by Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch. This will be the first time Childers serves as a crew chief in the Xfinity Series.

Rodney’s resume and career speak for themselves. Rodney and I grew up together and have known each other since we were kids. That’s a relationship that has always been close and has remained so to this day. We have always had an interest in working together in motorsports, and I am grateful that this opportunity presented itself and we were able to bring him into the JRM family.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., co-owner of JR Motorsports

Childers previously collaborated with Justin Haley at Spire, but the relationship came to an end when both the driver and the crew chief felt it wasn’t working. During his time at Stewart-Haas Racing, Childers achieved 40 victories and a Cup title with Harvick. Subsequently, he worked with Josh Berry in 2024, the last year of Stewart-Haas Racing’s existence.

NASCAR and Jusan Hamilton: End of an Era

Additionally, NASCAR confirmed that it has ended its working relationship with race director Jusan Hamilton, with six races remaining to conclude the season. Hamilton is no longer listed as a NASCAR employee, where his official title was general manager of competition operations. Hamilton joined NASCAR initially as an intern in 2012 and returned in 2016, performing various roles. He oversaw NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, pit crew development, and NASCAR iRacing professional racing divisions, in addition to his role as a race director. Hamilton played a fundamental role in setting the annual calendar and the program for each race weekend. His first event as race director was in 2018 at Pocono Raceway. In 2022, Hamilton became the first Black race director to officiate the Daytona 500.