Stewart-Haas Racing announced earlier this week that it will be closing down its doors permanently when the 2024 NASCAR season ends. The news came as a shock to the more than 300 people who are a part of the operation. As they’re all left questioning their futures in the sport, crew chief Rodney Childers has opened up about what the best-case scenario for the lot would be.
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He told in a recent appearance on Dale Jr Download: Reloaded, “I think best case scenario would be that we all find jobs in the next month or two and we get something in writing to know what our futures are. What we will be paid and you know how to reorganize life if you have to and all those different things.” The next thing to focus on is something a tad bit more important.
He continued, “The rest of it is just going to be, can we keep enough people here to put cars together and make it to the racetrack? Push cars through tech and do all the things that it takes to do it right.” There are 22 more races to bring all the team’s four cars to. These races are crucial because they’re essentially auditions for the drivers to secure a seat elsewhere in 2025.
Childers reiterated that his #4 team is as motivated as ever despite all the chaos and that it just wanted to make Josh Berry successful. He recalled his words from the pre-season about how he wouldn’t let Berry fail on his watch and hammered on the same. “That’s what we’re excited about right now,” he said. “Get him in victory lane to raise his stock to make sure that he has a ride for next year.”
Josh Berry opens up on Stewart-Haas Racing shutting down
Giving his take on the dire news, Berry wrote on X, “Today was a tough day for all of us. It is pretty hard to find the right words. I’m proud of our team for how they have been handling this and will go forward. [Crew chief Rodney Childers] is a true leader. We will keep racing our hearts out every Sunday.” Though he did not have a dream opening to his maiden season, he has been putting up noteworthy performances lately.
Berry finished in third place in Darlington and followed it up with a tenth-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600. He currently sits in 19th place on the points table with 263 points. As Childers stated, the upcoming races will make or break where he lands in 2025.
