In a stunning turn of events, Spire Motorsports and veteran crew chief Rodney Childers parted ways on Wednesday after just nine races together, per Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. No interim crew chief was announced at the time of the announcement, but the team's competition director Ryan Sparks and director of vehicle performance Matt McCall are likely two of the front-runners. Sparks previously served as crew chief of the No. 7 car while McCall has been a crew chief at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing.
NEWS: Crew chief Rodney Childers and Spire Motorsports have parted ways, sources tell @TheAthletic. (w/@jeff_gluck) https://t.co/RQOv5JFDg8
— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) April 23, 2025
Before coming over to the organization ahead of the 2025 season to be the crew chief for Justin Haley, Childers, who has found success with multiple teams throughout his career, most recently was atop the pit box for Kevin Harvick, with the two of them winning the 2014 championship together. With 40 Cup Series wins with three drivers, Childers is the second-winningest active crew chief in NASCAR, which made it initially seem like a wise choice to pair him with the 25-year-old Haley. Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson released the following statement:
"NASCAR is an ever-evolving sport and the path to improvement isn't always comfortable," Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson said in a statement. "The break in the Cup Series schedule gave us a chance to evaluate where we are as a program. We took the opportunity to discuss the best paths forward for everyone involved and the team and Rodney agreed that it would be best for us to part ways."
"Rodney has worked at the highest level of our sport for 20 years, and he knows what it takes to win championships. With that in mind, we collectively acknowledged challenges with the team dynamic. Having the right combination of talent is just as important as the results on track. As we move in a new direction it is not lost on us that Rodney has been an invaluable asset to our organization, as he will continue to be for others in this sport."
Childers released a statement shortly afterward, expressing "shock" at the announcement but also expressing his gratitude to Chevrolet, Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports.
What does this mean for Spire Motorsports and Childers going forward?
With one top-10 (Homestead) and three top-15s this season, Haley currently sits 23rd in the points standings, but is coming off a solid outing at Bristol in which he ran inside the top 10 in both stages. While Childers and Haley had not come close to reaching their full potential yet, Childers' previous success cannot be discredited.
During he and Harvick's 10-year run at Stewart-Haas, the duo won 37 races together and made the Championship Four five times. During his first few years at Stewart-Haas, the organization had an alliance with Hendrick Motorsports before switching over to Ford. That prior connection with Chevrolet made the transition to Spire Motorsports seem like a natural fit for Childers when he agreed to a multiyear deal last July.
For Spire, this represents another change as the organization looks to improve its performance on the track. During its first five years of operating from 2019-2023, the team only had five top-fives and 10 top-10s. Last season, those numbers jumped to four top-fives and 14 top-10s — its most in one season — during its first season as a three-car organization. The growth has been there, which makes the decision to part ways with Childers a surprise given his experience.
As the Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the Jack Link's 500 on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, Fox, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Spire Motorsports will do so following the shocking departure of Childers.