"Josh Berry won't fail on my watch" - SHR crew chief on No. 4 team's performance amid future uncertainty

Stewart-Haas Racing crew chief Rodney Childers recently talked about Josh Berry's future in the Cup Series. Childers is focusing on an optimistic result for the #4 Ford team by the end of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Since the announcement by SHR's co-owners on the closing of their four-car charter in the Cup Series, SHR's employees are left with uncertain futures and have to look for new teams in NASCAR. Veteran crew chief Childers, who previously won a Cup Series Championship with Kevin Harvick in 2014 in the #4 for SHR, is now focused on "raise(ing)" Josh Berry's "stock" as an audition for other teams post-2024 season.

In an interview with Dirty Mo Media on YouTube, Rodney Childers said:

"What we're excited about right now is to get him(Josh Berry) in Victory Lane to raise his stock to make sure that he has a ride for next year." [4:06]

The 33-year-old Berry replaced NASCAR veteran Kevin Harvick, as the latter retired at the end of the 2023 season. Childers believes that #4 Berry deserves to stay in the Cup Series and is not a "one-year wonder."

"I said at the beginning of the year, you know Josh Berry is not going to fail on my watch and I still mean that. Like it’s important to me that he races next year and he’s not a one-year wonder and he’s extremely good and he deserves to be in the Cup Series; and that’s our priority the rest of the year," Childers said [4:16]

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Rodney Childers shed more light on #4 Josh Berry's performance in 2024

After a few disappointing results at the beginning of the 2024 Cup Series season, SHR's Berry has bounced back with one top-10 and two top-five finishes in the last three races.

Speaking on the aforementioned DJD Reloaded episode, the #4 team's crew chief said:

"At the beginning of the year we showed some flashes, and then we went through a few weeks of tearing up cars, which really wasn’t his fault, and then now it has turned the corner to where he has figured out these cars and we’ve figured out what he likes." [3:46]

Tennesse native Berry along with the other drivers for SHR - #10 Noah Gragson, #14 Chase Briscoe, and #41 Ryan Preece are free agents for the 2025 Cup Series.

Currently, Berry sits at P19 with 263 points under his belt in the overall Cup Series standings, as NASCAR heads toward the 15th race of the regular Cup Series season at World Wide Technology Raceway for the Enjoy Illinois 300 this Sunday (June 2).