I thought that Spire Motorsports was going to show up to the 2025 season and have a breakout season. I thought this because they had hired Rodney Childers to crew chief for the #7 car with driver Justin Haley. Then it was announced that Rodney Childers and Spire decided to part ways just two months into the season. I never said I was good at predicting things. Fellow Pit Pass Network journalist, Griffin Fuller, once stated in a group chat, “Greg picks with his heart.” Well, I’m guilty as charged.

This makes Rodney Childers, one of the all time greatest crew chiefs, a free agent. If you follow him on X, you know he still loves racing and can’t wait to be back on top of the pit box. There are easily more than five Cup Series drivers who would like to have Rodney Childers as their crew chief.

I am going to stick with the 5 drivers that I believe could most benefit from having Childers as a crew chief. These drivers are Kyle Busch, Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Preece, and Shane van Gisbergen.

What Childers Did for Kevin Harvick

Being a Kevin Harvick fan, I am obviously going to be biased. In our current times, I hope the reader finds that admission is like a breath of fresh air. All over legacy media, especially when it comes to politics and geopolitics, journalists pretend to be objective while clearly having an agenda. My favorite journalist of all time, is Hunter S. Thompson. His Gonzo journalism, pretty much made him the center of the story he was covering. I intend to just make my bias be known to the reader.

Year after year, I recall watching that #29 car wondering when a championship would come. I knew my driver, not only was the right guy to take over my previous driver’s (Dale Earnhardt, Sr.), but that he was in that same echelon of driver. Nothing against Richard Childress Racing, but I felt that both in the final years of Dale Sr.’s career and during the years of Kevin Harvick driving the same car, they relied heavily on the drivers’ skills. Just look at Austin Dillon’s performance in the re-branded “#3” car ever since. Nothing against Austin, but he is no Dale Earnhardt nor is he a Kevin Harvick level driver.

Kevin Harvick joined Stewart-Haas Racing with Rodney Childers to drive the #4 car in 2014. In their first year together, they won a championship. Kevin Harvick went on to reach a total of 60 wins in his career. Under the old Winston Cup points system, he would have 4 titles, only one of which would have come at RCR. Most drivers are more successful in the first half of their career than the latter half. Harvick was the opposite. Just imagine if he had had Childers as his crew chief his entire career! Childers’ record speaks for itself.

Rodney Childers

Andy Coffey — Pit Pass Network

5. Kyle Busch

If you follow NASCAR on X, you see a lot of Kyle Busch fans screaming for RCR to get Rodney Childers to crew chief for Kyle Busch. Who could blame them? The latter half of Kevin Harvick’s career was when he was at his best. For most of that time, he had Childers as his crew chief. Kyle Busch has had a spectacular career. Still, he has been in a slump the past couple years. His first year at RCR went well, he even won a few times, but he hasn’t won since then. I think it is clear to everyone that Childers could help Busch get the most out of the remaining seasons of his career.

Rodney Childers

NoahGragsonRacing.com

4. Noah Gragson #4EVER

Being a Harvick fan, I would have included Noah Gragson in this list even if he was winning multiple races and having consistent runs. Who wouldn’t love to see Childers back on top of the #4’s pit box? Don’t get me wrong. It is great that the #4 car is still out there. Furthermore, it is even better that a former SHR driver is behind the wheel. It just hasn’t performed the way the #4 car is used to performing.

Through sixteen races, Noah Gragson only has three top 10 finishes. Only one of those was a top 5 finish. This was a fourth place finish at Talladega. Front Row Motorsports is obviously going to be suffering some distraction this season, given their involvement in the lawsuit against NASCAR. That’s tough for Noah Gragson, as last season Stewart-Haas was closing down, which also led to distraction. Noah Gragson is still a talented driver. If they could get Childers as crew chief for this #4 car, then we might see some of that old magic we associate with the number.

Rodney Childers

Andy Coffey — Pit Pass Network

3. Ty Gibbs

Ty Gibbs races for a solid team. His teammates Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell are almost a weekly threat to win the race. His other teammate, Chase Briscoe, seems to be a threat to win the pole each week and is starting to look like a threat to win races. Briscoe is with a new team. He won with Stewart-Haas in their hectic final year and seems well on his way to winning races with his new team.

In Ty Gibbs’ 103 Cup series starts, he has no wins and only twenty-six Top 10s (fourteen of which were top 5s). Gibbs only has 2 pole positions. Briscoe won three of those in a row already this season. It’s not all bleak for Gibbs. He has three top 10s this season, two of which were top 5s. Occasionally, Ty Gibbs has shown that he can be a threat to win, but there hasn’t been a lot of consistency. I think it is obvious that Ty Gibbs could benefit from a crew chief like Rodney Childers.

Rodney Childers

Motorsports Wire — USA Today

2. Ryan Preece

We are not even halfway through the 2025 Cup series schedule, and Ryan Preece is already out performing his results from last season. In the final year of Stewart-Haas Racing, Ryan Preece only had five top 10 finishes (one of which was a top 5). In his first year at RFK Racing, Preece already has six top 10 finishes and the same number of top 5s. He is definitely performing better in the #60 car than he did in the #41 car.

Preece is definitely a threat to make the playoffs this season, whether that be via points or a win. He is currently 14th in overall points. There are few drivers beneath him who have won races, and six drivers ahead of him without wins. Childers could be the missing piece to the #60 team being a real threat to win multiple races. Plus, it would be great to see Childers teamed up with a former SHR driver. (I nearly put Chase Briscoe on this list, but figured 3 out of 5 former SHR drivers was a bit too biased on my part. Ty Gibbs needs Childers more than Briscoe does.)

Rodney Childers

Alpinestars.com

1. Shane van Gisbergen (aka S.V.G.)

Shane van Gisbergen is fresh off of his Cup series win at Mexico City. He won his very first cup race at the Chicago Street Course. He is starting to show slow improvement at ovals. Why would he need to change crew chiefs?

Under normal circumstances, I would say that he didn’t need to change crew chiefs. These aren’t normal circumstances, Rodney Childers is available. Shane van Gisbergen has a lot of talent. He may be the most talented driver in the Cup series field right now. Childers could help him tap into that talent and apply it to the ovals. While I’m a die-hard Stewart-Haas Racing fan, I think this is the best spot for Childers. I also believe that Shane van Gisbergen would benefit the most from bringing Childers on as crew chief.

S.V.G. is pretty much a shoe-in for the playoffs every single season, given his road course talent. Imagine combining that talent with a crew chief who has won so many oval races. This would be another combo like Harvick/Childers, Johnson/Knaus, and Gordon/Evernham. What are you waiting for Trackhouse? Get a hold of Childers and offer as much money as you can for this position. (Of course, I’ve been saying this for a while.)