Carson Hocevar admits everyone expected Rodney Childers Spire exit

Spire Motorsport's Carson Hocevar weighed in on Rodney Childers' exit and admitted that the split was not entirely unexpected, stating that it was part of a broader strategic plan. The collaboration between the veteran crew chief and the No. 7 team of Justin Haley came to an end just after nine races into the 2025 Cup Series season.

The move was announced after NASCAR's off-week, marking a premature end to Childers' multi-year deal and leaving many questioning the decision by co-owner Jack Dickerson. Childers acknowledged the disappointment but also admitted that the partnership wasn't working for either side.

A day after the announcement, Ryan Sparks was named as Childers' replacement for the No.7 garage, adding to his duties as competition director for Spire Motorsports. That said, Haley heads into Sunday's Jack Links' 500 with a single top-10 result under Childers' short-lived tenure.

On Saturday, April 26, Hocevar spoke to Frontstretch about the sudden exit.

"Everything was a strategic play and I think you saw that. It doesn't look fun and great from the outside optics, but from within, the blueprint, the gameplan of Jack Dickerson and everybody in that office and the office space is still the same and it hasn't changed and this is just another aggressive strategic move by them," Carson Hocevar said.

When asked if the move was predictable, he replied,

"Yeah, I mean we all could, per se."

In the wake of Childers' departure, the No.7 team faced an immediate setback at Talladega Superspeedway, as a failed inspection led to the loss of their car chief and their right to pit stall selection.

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Carson Hocevar reveals his daring fuel strategy for Talladega

Carson Hocevar expressed his discontent with fuel-saving strategies at drafting tracks like Talladega Superspeedway. Thus, the No.77 driver has vowed to run the race at full throttle for the entire 188-lap event. He signaled it as a form of protest against the usual race proceedings at NASCAR's longest track.

During an interview with Rubbin is Racing, Hocevar shared his game plan for Sunday's race and said,

"I think it'll be the same type of race. I told my guys I'm just going to run the thing out of fuel because I'm just bored of it and I'm just going to do it out of protest, so I'm just going to hold it wide open the entire time and hope we get a yellow that I don't run out of fuel, but if not, I'll just run the thing out of fuel," [0:14]

In Saturday's qualifying, Carson Hocevar placed down the order at 28th, 0.733 seconds off the pace set by polesitter Zane Smith. As such, the Michigan native heads into the race looking to break his streak of never finishing inside the top 10 at the 2.66-mile track.

He currently ranks 25th in the driver standings with 157 points and a single top-10 finish coming from a second-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway.