Childers, former Cup champion, new crew chief in Xfinity

Rodney Childers, the experienced engineer who led Kevin Harvick to the Cup Series championship in 2014, has found a new professional destination after his departure from Spire Motorsports in April. Childers will assume the crew chief role at JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series, specifically 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 track record 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 been interested in working together in motorsports, and I am grateful that this opportunity came up 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 properly. During his time at Stewart-Haas Racing, Childers accumulated 40 wins and a Cup title with Harvick. Subsequently, he worked with Josh Berry in 2024, coinciding with Harvick’s retirement year and the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing. In addition, on Saturday, NASCAR announced the separation of Jusan Hamilton, race director, with six races remaining to conclude the season. Currently, Hamilton is no longer listed as a NASCAR employee, where his official position was general manager of competition operations. Hamilton began his career in NASCAR 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 iRacing divisions, in addition to serving as a race director. Hamilton played a crucial role in defining the annual calendar and the program for each race weekend. His debut as race director took place in 2018 at Pocono Raceway. In 2022, Hamilton made history by becoming the first African-American race director to officiate the Daytona 500.