JR Motorsports (JRM) has taken yet another step in confirming its complete team roster for the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series campaign, announcing the crew chief lineup for its five entries on Friday.
Crew Chiefs – ? pic.twitter.com/veDGHRAEz1
— JR Motorsports (@JRMotorsports) November 14, 2025
Rodney Childers, as was previously announced in September, will be serving as the crew chief for the No. 1 Chevrolet in 2026. The entry will be full-time, but split between NASCAR Cup Series regular Connor Zilisch and JR Motorsports driver Carson Kvapil.
Childers is a well-known crew chief across the garage in NASCAR, having helped lift the Stewart-Haas Racing organization to what it became under the discretion of himself and Kevin Harvick’s No. 4. Childers is a 40-time race-winner in the Cup Series, but will actually be crew chiefing for the first time in the Xfinity Series come Daytona.
Andrew Overstreet will be moving over from the No. 1 Chevrolet, where he worked with Carson Kvapil in 2025, to partner with Justin Allgaier on the No. 7 Chevrolet in 2026. Overstreet replaces Jim Pohlamn, who was tapped to join Richard Childress Racing as the NASCAR Cup Series crew chief for Kyle Busch.
Overstreet spent last season working with Carson Kvapil, which marked his first full-time campaign as a shot-caller in any of NASCAR’s National Series. Kvapil advanced to the ‘Championship 4’, but went winless on the season — leaving Overstreet’s only victory as the 2024 event at Watkins Glen with Connor Zilisch.
Corey Shea will be moving from his part-time gig as crew chief of the No. 9 Chevrolet, the fifth entry for JR Motorsports. Now, Shea will take on his first full-time crew chiefing gig, working with Sammy Smith and the No. 8 Chevrolet.
Shea will be serving as a full-time NASCAR National Series crew chief for the first time. Last season, while working on the No. 9 Chevrolet, with drivers Ross Chastain, Connor Mosack, Daniel Suarez, and Shane Van Gisbergen, the new crew chief picked up a pair of victories at Mexico City and the Chicago Street Course.
Phillip Bell, who worked with Sammy Smith for the entirety of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign, will jump over to the No. 9 Chevrolet to work with Ross Chastain and Shane Van Gisbergen, among other drivers that will be announced at a later date.
The exact schedule of the No. 9 Chevrolet isn’t known just yet, but after two seasons of crew chiefing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series — one for Brandon Jones (2024) and another for Sammy Smith (2025) — Bell is being put to work with a couple of experienced NASCAR Cup Series drivers who will take the helm of the part-time entry.
Finally, Mardy Lindley is the only crew chief who isn’t going to be shuffled around heading into the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series campaign, maintaining his post as crew chief of the No. 88 Chevrolet after a successful campaign in 2025 with Connor Zilisch. Rajah Caruth is the only driver confirmed to pilot the No. 88 in 2026, with other drivers filling the schedule expected to be announced at a later date.
Lindley, of the bunch, is the most experienced crew chief in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, having three full seasons of experience — two with Sam Mayer in 2023 and 2024, and one with Connor Zilisch in 2025. Those three seasons have resulted in an impressive 17 victories — nine from Zilisch, seven from Mayer, and one from Kyle Larson in an interim role.
