Rodney Childers has landed himself a full-time crew chief position in the NASCAR National Series ranks for the 2026 season. Childers will return to the pit box next season in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series with the No. 1 JR Motorsports team.
According to a press release from JR Motorsports, Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch, who will compete for Rookie of the Year honors in the NASCAR Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing next season, will share the No. 1 Chevrolet in 2026.
Childers, who spent the opening nine races of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season as the crew chief for Justin Haley and the No. 7 Spire Motorsports team, is elated to get back to doing what he does best, and is excited to be doing it with the most formidable team in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
“I’m so excited to be joining the JRM family,” said Childers. “To see what Dale, Kelley, and Mr. H have built here is quite amazing, and their results show for themselves. Dale and Kelley have meant a lot to me for some 30 years, and I can’t wait to be part of this group. Plus, I get to be the lucky guy to lead two amazing young men that have a huge amount of talent and a big future in our sport.”
For JR Motorsports, landing Childers as a crew chief was a no-brainer.
“Rodney’s resume and career speak for itself,” said JRM team owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. “Rodney and I grew up together and have known each other since we were kids. That’s a relationship that has always been close and has remained close to this day. We’ve always had interest in working together in motorsports, and I’m thankful that this opportunity came about and we could bring him into the JRM family.”
JR Motorsports confirmed that Andrew Overstreet, who has served as a crew chief for the race team since the 2020 season, will remain with the team in a key role for 2026. Additional driver and crew chief announcements for the 2026 season will be coming at a later date for JR Motorsports.
Childers, who has never served as a crew chief in NASCAR’s second-tier series, is a 40-time NASCAR Cup Series race-winning crew chief. Childers captured the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series championship while paired with Kevin Harvick at Stewart-Haas Racing.
In addition to the 37 victories that Childers enjoyed with Harvick, the veteran crew chief also scored two wins with David Reutimann, and one with Brian Vickers at Michael Waltrip Racing before he moved to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014.
Over the course of the nine starts with Haley, Childers was able to land one top-10 finish, which came at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the sixth race of the season. Following a 13th-place result at Bristol Motor Speedway, Childers and Spire Motorsports mutually agreed to part ways.
