Childers, former NASCAR champion, joins JR Motorsports in Xfinity Series

Rodney Childers Finds New Direction at JR Motorsports

The renowned career engineer Rodney Childers, known for leading Kevin Harvick to the NASCAR Cup championship in 2014, has found a new challenge in his professional career. After his departure from Spire Motorsports in April, Childers joins JR Motorsports in the Xfinity series. Childers will assume the role of race engineer for the No. 1 Chevrolet, which will be shared by Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch. This will be the first time Childers has served as a race engineer 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 remains so to this day. We’ve always had an interest in working together in motorsports, and I’m grateful that this opportunity came along and we were able to bring him into the JRM family.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., co-owner of JR Motorsports

Childers previously worked with Justin Haley at Spire, but the relationship came to an end when both the driver and the race engineer agreed that it wasn’t working. During his time at Stewart-Haas Racing, Childers achieved 40 victories and a Cup title with Harvick. Then, in 2024, after Harvick’s retirement, he worked with Josh Berry. That was the last year of Stewart-Haas Racing.

NASCAR and Jusan Hamilton Parting Ways

In other news, NASCAR has confirmed the separation of race director Jusan Hamilton, with six races remaining to finish the season. Hamilton is no longer listed as a NASCAR employee, where his official title was general manager of competition operations. Hamilton began his NASCAR career as an intern in 2012 and returned in 2016, performing various functions. He oversaw NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, the development of pit crews, and NASCAR’s pro iRacing divisions, in addition to serving as a race director. Hamilton played a fundamental role in the elaboration of both the annual calendar and that of each race weekend. His first event as race director was in 2018 at the Pocono Raceway. In 2022, Hamilton became the first black race director to officiate the Daytona 500.