Not too long ago, I wrote an article about 5 drivers who needed Rodney Childers the most.  Well as the season has progressed, I noticed myself wanting to add other drivers and teams to that list. Therefore, I decided to write another article about 5 more Cup series teams that need to hire Rodney Childers.

So in addition to the #8 team of Kyle Busch, the #4 team of Noah Gragson, the #54 of Ty Gibbs, the #60 team of Ryan Preece, and the #88 of Shane van Gisbergen, here are 5 more teams that really need to hire Rodney Childers to crew chief for them in 2026.

5. RFK Racing’s #6 Team (Brad Keselowski)

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Image Credit: Andy Coffey — Pit Pass Network

Frankly, I almost left Brad Keselowski’s #6 team off of this list. Keselowski is getting up there in age. He is in his early 40’s. Then I remembered Kevin Harvick’s 2020 season. Rodney Childers led the #4 SHR team to many victories during Harvick’s 40’s. While Keselowski definitely has the talent, his 2025 venture hasn’t had the results. He does have four top 5s, but he’s consistently been the worst RFK Racing car. That just doesn’t make any sense to me.

Clearly, the #6 team is in need of a change. A crew chief change could be exactly what is needed in 2026. In my opinion, there is one crew chief who would be the best for a driver like Keselowski. It’s clear to me that the #6 team needs to hire Rodney Childers for 2026.

I mean Brad Keselowski has only won ONE race his entire time driving the #6. While others might say it’s time for him to focus solely on ownership, I believe he still has multiple wins left in his career. He just needs Rodney Childers to be his crew chief.

4: Hendrick Motorsports #48 Team (Alex Bowman)

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Image Credit: Andy Coffey — Pit Pass Network

Honestly, this team probably needs him the most at this current moment in time. Yes, I’m focused on 2026 in this article, but this team needs to hire Rodney Childers right now. It’s not like this team or its driver aren’t capable of performing. They have five top 5 finishes. Currently, they are in the playoffs. If this pit crew performs the way they did at Darlington and Gateway at Bristol, then they will be out of the playoffs.

Alex Bowman finished 36th at Darlington and 26th at Gateway. This was mainly due to pit stop mishaps. I do recall the #4 team having some issues at times during pit stops, but for the most part, such issues didn’t continue. While I’m not sure that hiring Rodney Childers right now would guarantee them making it to the second round, I would feel a lot more comfortable if they had him. This current crew just isn’t getting it done when it counts, and that falls on the crew chief.

A Hendrick Motorsports team should not be suffering such problems. Rodney Childers could turn this team around.

3: RFK Racing’s #17 team (Chris Buescher)

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Image Credit: Andy Coffey — Pit Pass Network

I was at Bristol in 2022 when Chris Buescher brought RFK Racing back to victory lane. Well technically, this was the first year of RFK Racing as Keselowski became an owner of the team this same year providing the “K”. In 2023, he won three races and made the playoffs. Two of these wins were back to back (Richmond and Michigan). In 2024, he won at Watkins Glen upsetting the playoff contenders.

The 2025 season has been a bit of a downturn for the #17 team. Buescher has four top 5 finishes, one of which was a second place finish at Michigan. Still, he (much like the rest of RFK Racing) failed to make the playoffs. We could debate all day about the current points system. At the end of the day, we’re still on a “win and you’re in” format.

Hiring a crew chief like Rodney Childers could be the big difference maker. It wasn’t just Kevin Harvick winning races when he absolutely had to in order to advance in 2014. Rodney Childers could be the closer for the #17 team (or really any team at RFK Racing, as Ryan Preece was listed in my original article).

2. Wood Brothers Racing #21 Team (Josh Berry)

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Image Credit: Rusty Jarrett — NKP — Motorsport Images

Josh Berry and Rodney Childers have worked together before. Sadly, it was the first year after Kevin Harvick’s retirement, which happened to be the same year that Stewart-Haas Racing announced they were shutting down. It was a rough season, but the combo still put together great runs at Darlington and New Hampshire. In both of those races the #4 SHR Ford Mustang finished 3rd. The combo also had an additional couple of top 10 finishes at Charlotte (oval) and Iowa.

The driver/crew chief combo openly expressed wanting to continue to work together. It just didn’t work out for the 2025 season. Spire apparently made an offer to Childers he couldn’t refuse, and Berry signed with the Wood Brothers, who are a satellite team for Team Penske. Team Penske apparently preferred to keep things in-house.

Berry has had a decent season in his first year at Wood Brothers Racing. He got his first Cup series win under his belt at Las Vegas earlier in the season. Given that Berry and Childers have worked together before and had wanted to continue to do so, it would be nice to see Wood Brothers Racing hire Rodney Childers. I believe it would bring an increase in performance. Plus, all of us former Stewart-Haas fans could see what could have been.

1: Trackhouse Racing #99/87? Team (Connor Zilisch)

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Image Credit: Aaron E. Martinez — American-Statesman — USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Trackhouse has announced that Connor Zilisch will be driving for them full time in the Cup series in 2026. I assume this will still be the #99 team, but I’m not sure of the number. He has raced the #87 in the Cup series for Trackhouse a few times in 2025. In my previous article, I listed SVG as the driver who needed Rodney Childers the most. While I stand by that statement, Connor Zilisch has been the driver that has made me want to make a new list the most.

Connor Zilisch is an obvious talent. It certainly seems as if he is going to be a NASCAR legend regardless of who ends up as his crew chief. Still, the transition to Cup racing is going to be difficult. The highest he finished in his few starts this season was 11th at Atlanta. Why not make that transition easier by pairing a future legend with a current legend?!

Final Thoughts (for now)

Rodney Childers is a rare personality. As you can see in the X post above, Childers is both humble and confident. He is right about one thing. Whatever he is doing in 2026, he will be winning. Personally, I don’t think hiring Rodney Childers should be considered “taking a chance.” You can’t hold the declining years of the Stewart-Haas Racing and nine races with Spire’s worst performing team against him. Sorry, nothing against Justin Haley, but he’s not the same caliber as any of the drivers I’ve listed in this article or the previous article. At least, he hasn’t yet shown himself to be of that caliber. Furthermore, I don’t consider Spire to be at the same level of organization as any of those listed.

Someone is going to hire Rodney Childers. Whoever that is, will not be disappointed.