After Justin Allgaier won the 2024 championship, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been on a roll. The veteran’s Xfinity Series team, JR Motorsports, has an eclectic set of unstoppable drivers in 2025. Connor Zilisch has set the gold standard, winning nine races already in his rookie season. Allgaier has been on a similarly stellar run with 3 wins. Even Carson Kvapil is riding high in 4th rank in points. So, with all these stats and a potential to lead, Dale Jr. has now tapped Kevin Harvick’s former colleague.

Yes, it’s Rodney Childers. The crew chief who helped Kevin Harvick with his golden years, and has to date, 40 Cup Series wins, placing him among the top active crew chiefs in terms of victories.

Dale Jr. redeems a future Hall of Famer

After Stewart-Haas Racing shut down, Childers found himself briefly without a role. His prime days with Harvick behind him, his next move was uncertain. He joined Spire Motorsports as Justin Haley’s crew chief, but that partnership ended in April after just nine races. He again returned to his roots in the CARS Tour, guiding Landen Lewis in Late Model Stock Cars to four wins and a championship-contending season.

So, when Dale Jr. recently caught Childers talking to Truck Series teams about opportunities, he was surprised that someone of Childers’ caliber hadn’t yet secured a spot back in NASCAR. And, Junior just capitalized on that.

He called him to join JRM for the 2026 season. And with the prospect of working as the crew chief for the No. 1 car, Rodney Childers is more than excited for the next stretch of his career.

“Obviously, the last 12 months haven’t been the way that we wanted to go, but everything happens for a reason. And when Dale called me, we sat down and talked about this. I was blown away. What Dale means to me, what Kelly means to me, what Mr. H means to me. It’s just a dream come true. When you can have talent in the seed with Carson and Connor both, it’s going to be a ton of fun. To be in the building with so many racers, so many people that I’ve already worked with, already have relationships with, and I have a ton of respect for. It’s just going to mean a lot,” he told Sirius XM NASCAR.

Despite his fallout with Spire Motorsports, Rodney Childers remains dedicated to his work. After all, the 40-time Cup race-winning veteran is currently the most successful crew chief in the NASCAR garage.

Childers continued, “To me, it’s really about winning races. You know, I’m just at that point in my life, especially after working with Kevin Harvick for the amount of time that I did. I said that before Kevin retired, it’s gonna be hard to ever replace this. And I really feel like what we have for 2026 is one of those situations that’s just gonna be a lot of fun. Really competitive, and just something that you wake up every single morning ready to do.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. also expressed his enthusiasm about Rodney Childers joining the team, highlighting the relationship.

“Rodney’s resume and career speak for itself. Rodney and I grew up together and have known each other since we were kids. That’s a relationship that has always been close and has remained close to this day. We’ve always had interest in working together in motorsports, and I’m thankful that this opportunity came about and we could bring him into the JRM family.”

Evidently, Kevin Harvick’s brother-in-arms is ready to take up the next challenge in his NASCAR career. In the meantime, Harvick broods over another veteran in the Cup Series.

Lamenting about a lost spectacle

Notice anything missing in NASCAR headlines this year? Or rather, over the last two years? Yeah, Kyle Busch is almost non-existent in Victory Lane narratives. The two-time Cup Series champion, who was once a source of intimidation to his rivals, is now merely an afterthought every weekend. The last time Busch won was during the June 2023 Gateway race.

And the last time Busch was in the Championship 4 race while running for Joe Gibbs Racing was in 2019, when he won the title. Six years later, it seems unimaginable that the Richard Childress Racing driver can be a threat to his competitors. This fall of a star concerns not only Rowdy fans, but one of his former rivals as well.

The conflict between Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick is very well known. Yet the latter downplayed all of that while worrying about his rival’s present state. “We all want to see Kyle Busch win,” Harvick stated on the podcast. “As much as I’ve gone through moments where I hate Kyle Busch. I’ve hated Kyle Busch with a passion at moments. That’s all come full circle, and we’re very much able to communicate and have a good relationship.” He continued, “But I can’t imagine Kyle Busch going out like this. It’s bad for everything, bad for the sport. It’s bad for him, bad for everything that says Kyle Busch. I hate to see where it’s at.”

Evidently, Kevin Harvick worries about veterans in the Cup Series. He must be happy now that Rodney Childers has got a 2026 role – let’s wait and see how the stellar crew chief performs!