Spire faces a major setback days after Rodney Childers' exit

Spire Motorsports has faced a major blow at Talladega, days after parting ways with Rodney Childers. The legendary crew chief embarked with the organization on a multi-year deal to call the shots for Justin Haley, however, both parties mutually agreed to terminate the agreement before the Talladega race.

NASCAR will return to the 2.66-mile superspeedway for its 110th showing at the venue and will go full-throttle into the season with no breaks until the Championship 4 race at the Phoenix Raceway. Haley is running his first full-time season with Spire and will enter the Jack Link's 500 battle with a solitary top 10 under the belt.

The 188-lap event is slated for Sunday, April 27. Before the race, NASCAR inspected the NextGen machines. While others passed the checks, Haley's #7 Spire Chevrolet failed twice. As a result, he lost his car chief, Doug Powers, and has also relinquished his right to pit stall selection.

"Cup Series inspection complete at Talladega. Spire No. 7 failed twice and loses car chief Doug Powers and pit stall selection." (via Matt Weaver).

The key to succeeding at the high-banked Talladega Superspeedway is for drivers to work together in the draft. Dale Earnhardt is among the most successful figures to dominate the largest Oval on NASCAR's schedule, with 10 wins and 23 top-5s.

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Rodney Childers pens a heartfelt message after his Spire exit

Rodney Childers lent his expertise for 11 years at Stewart-Haas Racing, bagging the 2014 Cup Series championship and 37 wins with Kevin Harvick. After Harvick retired, Childers called the shots for Josh Berry in the #4 Ford Mustang. However, after the team announced its shutdown after the 2024 season, the legendary crew chief joined Spire.

Together, Justin Haley and Childers ran in nine races. The duo showed promising signs, claiming a top 10 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway and a bunch of top-15s, placing the #7 Chevy above veteran NASCAR star Brad Keselowski in 31st place.

Nonetheless, during the off-week break, the parties decided to part ways, making Ryan Sparks the new crew chief. Childers expressed his emotions later that day.

“I know this is a shock. But also know that not everything works out perfect all the time. That’s how life works. This was just one of those things that just wasn’t working for either of us. I appreciate my time at Spire, working with JH and the entire 7 team. We did a lot of good that is yet to be seen, and I wish them the best in the future," an excerpt of Rodney Childers' note read via X.

It's worth mentioning that Rodney Childers and Justin Haley's most recent collaboration at the Bristol Motor Speedway proved fruitful. The driver jumped six spots in the Cup Series standings after a 13th-place finish and is now ranked 23rd.