Kevin Harvick’s former Crew Chief Rodney Childers speaks out after Stewart-Haas Racing closure
Kevin Harvick’s former Crew Chief Rodney Childers has been one of the most important members of Stewart-Haas Racing over it’s time in the NASCAR Cup Series.
He helped Harvick reach immense success in the Cup Series with the No. 4 team, and he’s been essential to Josh Berry’s development throughout the 2024 campaign. Berry has really come along over the last couple of weeks, and it was evident the pair was beginning to gel.
However, the future for both Childers and Berry has been muddied, as Stewart-Haas Racing announced it will be closing their doors for good at the end of the 2024 season. That led Childers to take to social media to share a motivational post, speaking out for the first time after the news dropped.
“1 championship, 37 wins, 25 poles, 151 top 5s, 235 top 10s since the 4 team came together at SHR,” Childers posted on X. “And we are just getting rolling with @joshberry .. But most of all, we have been a family. A family that truly cares and loves every person.. WE aren’t done!”
Even though Stewart-Haas Racing will be closing, Childers and Berry won’t be giving up on their 2024 season. It may be the last one they have together, as who knows what the future holds for both men, but they’ll be hot commodities at the end of the campaign.
Moreover, Stewart and Haas released a joint-statement regarding the closure of their race team, and it’s evident it wasn’t an easy decision. What the future holds for both men, and the rest of their organization, remains to be seen.
“We have made the difficult decision to close Stewart-Haas Racing at the conclusion of the 2024 season,” Stewart and Haas said in the statement on Tuesday. “It is a decision that did not come easily, nor was it made quickly. Racing is a labor-intensive, humbling sport. It requires unwavering commitment and vast resources, with a 365-day mindset to be better than everyone else. It’s part of what makes success so rewarding.
“But the commitment needed to extract maximum performance while providing sustainability is incredibly demanding, and we’ve reached a point in our respective personal and business lives where it’s time to pass the torch. We’re proud of all the wins and championships we’ve earned since joining together in 2009, but even more special is the culture we built and the friendships we forged as we committed to a common cause — winning races and collecting trophies.”
Alas, it’s a somber moment for the NASCAR Cup Series, but Rodney Childers and Josh Berry will land on their feet amid Stewart-Haas Racing’s closure, as their talent and knowledge will shine through for another team in 2025.