Kevin Harvick recalls purposely making Rodney Childers mad 'to see if I could get a rise out of him'
Kevin Harvick was joined by Josh Berry on this week’s edition of Harvick’s Happy Hour, and the duo had a lengthy conversation about a myriad of different things.
It’s a fascinating dynamic, as Berry took over the No. 4 from Harvick, when the former NASCAR Cup Series champion decided to retire from full-time racing and enter the media world. However, Harvick’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, remained with the team, and has been sitting atop Berry’s pit box in 2024.
During their conversation, Berry and Harvick spoke about Childers’ temperament, and whether they’ve ever been involved in an argument with the crew chief, which prompted Harvick to tell a hilarious story about a time he was simply looking to get a rise out of Childers.
“I think back to those moments,” Harvick said, thinking back to some moments of strife between him and his former crew chief. “We never yelled at each other much, but there were a few times — we started in 2014, we started off really good, and then we kind of got into this lull, and Michigan, I mean, we had a disaster on pit road. Should’ve won the race. I came in and I’m thinking to myself, ‘What am I going to do, to see if I can get a rise out of this guy, and see if we can stir things up a little bit?’ So, I took the steering wheel, and I just whacked the dash one time. I said, ‘I want to see how he reacts, to his dash being torn up in his race car.’ Wrong move. That pissed him off more than anything. That pissed him off, more than yelling at him on the radio.
“He flipped out, because I had banged the dash with the steering wheel, and I did it intentionally, just to see if I could get a rise out of him. Well, I got a rise out of him, but it was not productive, at all. So, it’s always interesting to hear those dynamics.”
Perhaps that was the secret to Harvick and Childers’ successful dynamic all of these years. Regardless, it sounds like Harvick instantly regretted trying to get a rise out of his crew chief, and he never attempted to do it again.
Nevertheless, Harvick and Childers enjoyed a ton of success together, and Berry has stepped in and improved week-in and week-out in the No. 4. However, the duo will go their separate ways at the end of 2024, as Berry will move to the Wood Brothers, and Childress to Spire Motorsports.
Both will be better for their time together when it’s all said and done at the end of the season. Josh Berry is learning what Kevin Harvick already knew, Rodney Childers is invaluable as a crew chief.