In NASCAR, the Cup Series has always been at the forefront of the sport, be it in any aspect. But in the race for glory and amidst all the limelight, it can sometimes come too far to lose touch with the very culture that built the sport. That’s exactly what veteran crew chief Rodney Childers is now experiencing as he is loving life with his new chapter in the O’Reilly Series.
Rodney Childers circles what he finds most rewarding in the O’Reilly series
In a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. asked Childers how he feels about working at JRM in the O’Reilly Series. “Honestly, it’s been great. And my experience here has been great, too. I really love the atmosphere here. That’s the biggest thing that has stood out to me, just the family atmosphere. And really, it’s just been perfect timing for me to be able to come home and be home on Sundays, and just everything’s worked out really good,” Childers claimed.
While the trajectory in NASCAR usually goes from bottom to up, from Truck to O’Reilly to Cup, Rodney Childers is an exception. The championship-winning crew chief had never worked in the Truck or O’Reilly Series before. But for 2026, he shook hands with one of NASCAR’s most successful team owners, Dale Earnhardt Jr. And so far into his tenure with JR Motorsports, Childers is loving life.
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Working with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team in 2026, Childers claimed that a lot of things he wished would’ve happened in his 25 years in the Cup Series, which have happened at JRM.
“I really love the atmosphere here and a lot of the things for the last 25 years that you wish would happen at a race team and have some luncheons and have ice cream truck come by and have a beer toast when you win races.”
The Cup Series, being at the top level, has huge financial stakes and sponsor expectations that go through the entire year. So the teams and the garage are more focused on performance and logistics rather than sharing these casual moments. Sundays are naturally not free to them due to racedays. So by taking the sport too seriously, Childers says the fun aspect is ultimately missed out on.
Childers was previously employed at the Cup level with Spire Motorsports, and before that, he had a long and successful tenure at Stewart-Haas Racing.
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But it wasn’t until he worked at JRM in 2026 that Childers experienced a whole new side of a NASCAR team. He claimed he’s one of ‘the odd ones’ who went straight to Cup racing, because of which he never knew what working in the O’Reilly Series is like. Childers worked as a crew chief for close to two decades in Cup from 2006 until 2025.
Childers opens up on his contributions to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team
For 2026, Rodney Childers was announced as the crew chief of the #1 team, split between Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch. But so far this season, he hasn’t led his team to a race win yet, while Justin Allgaier has won thrice.
But despite that, Childers believes he has contributed in a larger sense to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team.
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“I don’t know what anyone else would say, but I do feel like I have made the whole place better, and that’s important to me. That’s what my main goal was, not to just make the #1 car run good, but to make the whole organization better with a lot of small details that some people don’t think matter,” he claimed.
Childers said he feels ‘at home’ at JR Motorsports and wakes up every morning excited to work. He mentioned how he’s the first one at the shop and last to leave with ideas and thoughts to improve things at the organization.
With that said, it’ll be interesting to see how far Rodney Childers can take JR Motorsports this season, not just as a crew chief of the #1 team, but also as a member of the organization with his experience and expertise.
