Rodney Childers signs with Spire Motorsports as crew chief for No. 7 team, Corey LaJoie

Spire Motorsports announced Tuesday that Rodney Childers has signed a multi-year agreement with the race team to serve as the crew chief for the No. 7 team and Corey LaJoie for 2025 and beyond.

Ryan Sparks, who currently serves as Spire’s competition director as well as LaJoie’s crew chief, will transition to a singular role as competition director after the 2024 Cup Series season.

Welcome to Spire, Rodney.

We're proud to announce @RodneyChilders4 will be joining the team as crew chief of the No. 7 Chevrolet in 2025 and beyond.

Learn more: https://t.co/jOtn01TIPo pic.twitter.com/pAqtocVikl

— Spire Motorsports (@SpireMotorsport) July 9, 2024

Childers, 48, has spent the current campaign atop the pit box for the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team, as he’s done since 2014. For the first nine years, Childers worked with Kevin Harvick, winning a Cup Series championship and 37 races. Childers is the winningest active crew chief in NASCAR‘s premier series. Following Harvick’s retirement after the 2023 season, Childers transitioned to working with Josh Berry. Berry is set to join Wood Brothers Racing in 2025 with SHR closing up shop at the end of the season.

There was discussion about Childers potentially following Berry to WBR, but he instead gets a fresh start at Spire and with LaJoie.

Can Rodney Childers help turn things around for Corey LaJoie?

“I think the biggest thing is seeing how Spire Motorsports has grown over the last couple of years,” Childers said in a statement. “They are investing in people, and that’s what makes a difference these days. We all buy the same chassis, bodies and parts. What makes a difference is the people. Spire continues to invest in the people within the team. And they seek out good people to add depth to an already strong group. Corey [LaJoie] is a veteran of the sport and I think we have a tremendous opportunity in front of us.

“Spire has been on my radar for the past year. I had quite a few guys from the No. 4 team go over there. And they keep telling me how much they enjoy it, what the culture is like and how well everybody gets along. That started it from my side. The rest was the way Jeff [Dickerson] and Doug Duchardt [Spire Motorsports President] handled my situation. They told me how much I was wanted and how I could make a difference.

“For anybody in this world, all you want is to feel wanted and loved, and I felt that through them. I also see it as a place that can be good for my family, long term. My kids are three years from graduating high school. With the truck teams there, it’s somewhere they can grow, learn and possibly work one day.” 

LaJoie is in the middle of his fourth full-time season with Spire, a season which has been a tough go for him thus far. Through 20 races, he sits 31st in the points standings with one top-five finish. With Childers aboard, LaJoie will look to turn things around next season.