“Trying to find jobs was tough enough”: Spire’s Rodney Childers makes his feelings clear ahead of 2025 NASCAR season 

Rodney Childers recently shared his thoughts on transitioning from now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing to Spire Motorsports ahead of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.

After Tony Stewart and Gene Haas jointly announced the closure of SHR, the futures of all the drivers and SHR employees were left in limbo. While the drivers found new homes as the silly season passed, some were left questioning their futures until the very end of the season.

In a recent media interaction, championship-winning crew chief Childers said (via Claire B Lang):

"Just how we're just talking about it in the office, like how fortunate we've been, and how far we've come in just a little bit of time. But it's been pretty special, honestly, to kind of go through what we went through. All of us trying to find jobs was tough enough, but to find the home here at Spire, to have a lot of the guys."

Furthermore, Childers also mentioned reuniting with his SHR No. 4's car chief Robert "Cheddar" Smith at the new No. 7 shed at Spire Motorsports.

"I mean, Cheddar and I have won 37 Cup races together. So, there's not too many times that you can come across people like that, that have your back through thick and thin."

"On the #7 side, you know, feel like we're definitely headed in the right direction and putting together some nice cars, nice equipment. Hopefully, we've made Justin [Haley] lot more comfortable and have some fun," added Rodney Childers.

Notably, Childers called the shots for Kevin Harvick during the latter's stint with SHR and the driver-crew chief duo lifted the 2014 Cup Series championship. However, after Harvick's retirement, Childers went on the become the crew chief of Josh Berry which only lasted a year.

As things stand, Rodney Childers will call the shots for the 25-year-old Justin Haley at Spire Motorsports.

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“He’s gonna be like, ‘Holy Crap!’”: Rodney Childers opens up on the 'huge undertaking' for Justin Haley

Speaking with renowned journalist Kelly Crandall, Rodney Childers opened up on presenting the right opportunity for the one-time Cup race winner Justin Haley in the upcoming season.

On Crandall's podcast, Childers highlighted how the Spire team had to redo the seats and make it "perfect" for Haley as the latter gears up for the Bowman Gray Clash. He said:

“I feel like Justin's gonna do a good job for us and it's been interesting to see all that because Justin's never really had the right opportunities; like, he's never even been fitted into a car the right way, so for us it's been a huge undertaking; like, we've had to have his seats redone at Hendrick; we've had to have his belts moved.”

Rodney Childers continued, "We've had to make all new seat rails new headrest new headrest supports new seat mounts new leg boards new floorboards, new pedal faces, new steering column mounts. We have redone everything to make it absolutely perfect for him, and I think when he gets in there at the Clash, he's gonna be like, ‘Holy crap!’ I've never had anything like this before, and that's the first step, right?"

The No. 7 Chevy driver Justin Haley and the veteran crew chief will be back in action for the season's first race at Bowman Gray Stadium on February 2. That will be followed by the first points-paying race at Daytona International Speedway on February 16.