Kevin Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers are back together again. No, Harvick has not unretired and gone back to racing. Rather, Childers is serving as a consultant to Harvick’s CARS Tour team.
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It’s keeping Childers busy while he searches for a new job after being fired nearly two weeks ago by Spire Motorsports. Childers served just nine Cup races as crew chief for Spire’s Justin Haley before getting axed.
So, the dynamic duo of Harvick and Childers — who won the 2014 NASCAR Cup championship together and paired up for 37 of Harvick’s 60 career Cup wins — has teamed up again, albeit in a different way.
Although Harvick is in Texas for Sunday’s Cup race for FOX Sports, Childers was elsewhere. He was down at the North Carolina Ace Speedway, giving a hand to a team that has struggled thus far in 2025.
“Kevin [Harvick] texted me on Monday afternoon, asked me what I was doing this weekend and asked if I could go over to the shop and help his guys a little bit. They’ve had a rough couple of weeks of ups and downs,” Childers told Frontstretch.com. “
I’m really just having fun with late models again. This is my background, what I always loved back in the day and raced here myself growing up.
Childers said that it was a lot of fun that week to hang out with the guys and go back through the details of everything. He also had many good words for the team. Childers felt the CARS team had a great group of guys working for them, and that they all worked really hard.
Praising them, he said, “They did a great job putting this thing back together from last week. It was really tore up. We had a good weekend.
“We weren’t the best off the truck but continued to make real good adjustments all weekend long and it just got better and better and better and better. That showed in the race, especially on the long runs, that we had a great car.”
Childers and Harvick’s personal connection
Childers also reflected on the strong bond he shares with his long-time colleague Harvick. He emphasized that this personal connection goes beyond racing. “It’s more of a friendship thing than anything. I think everybody knows how much Kevin has done for me over the years, so anytime I can help him, I’m going to do it.”
The born-competitor in him was evident, as he also added, “To show up and run good and have a good car and win a race is pretty special.”
While Childers is still pursuing a new crew chief job in the Cup Series, he’ll likely continue to help out Harvick’s team for the time being. Childers said, “Right now, I’m taking it day by day and hour by hour. I’m just trying to figure it out day by day and what holds next.
“I definitely want to continue to be in the Cup Series and continue to win Cup races, this is just a little bit of extra icing on the cake. It’s fun to win races, that’s what it’s all about.”
Rodney Childers is in a transitional phase right now. But make no mistake: he will be raring to hit the Cup circuit again soo, all guns blazing.
