Championship crew chief Rodney Childers is among the numerous crew from Stewart-Haas Racing that will be out of a job come the end of the 2024 season.
On Tuesday, Spire Motorsports announced that they have hired Childers for a multiyear contract. Starting next season, the 40 time winner will be sitting atop the pit box for the number seven car driven by Corey LaJoie.
Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson spoke of the new acquisition saying, “we are beyond excited to announce Rodney Childers as the crew chief for Corey LaJoie and Spire Motorsports’ number seven team beginning in 2025. There are decisions that professional racing teams make daily that take courage, require deep thought and have some element of rolling the dice. To be clear, this wasn’t one of them. Rodney is a Hall-of-Fame worthy, championship-winning crew chief with 40 wins. He is one of the best in the garage, and when a guy like Rodney is available, it would be malpractice if we did anything but our absolute best to bring him into our growing organization. He will make us better the moment he walks into our shop, and we look forward to his contributions to our collective success.”
LaJoie’s current crew chief Ryan Sparks also serves as the competition director for Spire Motorsports. Beginning with the 2025, Sparks will move to his role as Competition Director full time.
Jeff Dickerson spoke on Sparks saying, “Ryan Sparks is an amazing leader and has been a huge part of our organization since the first moment he clocked in, As he transitions from managing two roles to focusing on Spire Motorsports as a whole, it’s important to point out that he was one of the first guys who talked to me about bringing Rodney in. Lots of guys say they’ll put the team first, but there aren’t a lot of guys who follow through, and that speaks to the type of competitor and human Ryan is. He has been balancing being a crew chief and the competition director for the last couple of seasons. This move will allow him to focus solely on the competition director role. As we continue to grow, his knowledge and leadership will become even more instrumental to our success.”
Rodney Childers spoke on his new venture saying, “the thing that attracted me to Spire a lot was just they’re investing in the people. And if we’re all going to have to run the same parts, then the people is what’s going to make a difference. Yeah, some of these guys have a 25-year head start on us. But if you get the right group of people and the right mindset, people that are going to work hard and do all the right things, and you can still run with the big teams. You’ve got to go out there and be perfect. And you can’t flounder around by any means.”
Team president Dough Duchardt also spoke on Childers saying, “I think someone like Rodney can help us determine how to get our cars to the next level,” Duchardt said. I think we’re doing really well. But the thing is that it’s just incremental improvements in every little area that get you to that next level. And I think we’re just knocking on that door. And that’s where I think we’re going to focus as a group.”
He added, “we know that we’re growing. And we respect the competition enough to know that it’s a bit of a journey. But you have to embrace the journey. And that’s why I try to tell everyone; we know that it’s a steep hill. But you have to embrace that and be okay with it, knowing that you can get there.”