Motorsports

Was Justin Haley Responsible for Rodney Childers’ Exit from Spire Motorsports? NASCAR Driver Clears Air Around Decision

Spire Motorsports NASCAR Cup driver Justin Haley returned from NASCAR’s off-weekend last week ready for Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. But just a few hours after reporting back to work, Haley was shocked to learn that Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson had released Haley’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, from the team. The move […]

Published

3 weeks ago

April 27, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Spire Motorsports NASCAR Cup driver Justin Haley returned from NASCAR’s off-weekend last week ready for Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

But just a few hours after reporting back to work, Haley was shocked to learn that Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson had released Haley’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, from the team.

The move was odd, but also not completely surprising, either.

The odd part of it was that Childers, who joined Spire after Stewart-Haas Racing imploded at the end of last season, had just nine races in his now former role.

Having led Kevin Harvick to the 2014 Cup championship, Childers is tied for second in wins among active crew chiefs with Adam Stevens (each with 40 Cup wins). Paul Wolfe ranks first with 42 series wins.

You would have thought Childers would be given more time to jell with Haley, but Dickerson apparently felt otherwise.

Then there’s the not-so-surprising bit of the equation: Haley comes into Sunday’s race with zero wins, zero top-five and just one top-10 finish (Homestead), and a dismal 23^rd in the NASCAR Cup standings.

Haley said he had no involvement in Childers’ firing.

“We had our normal Tuesday, 8 am meeting with the No. 7 team to see how we’d come here (Talladega) and try to win the race,” Haley said during media availability Saturday morning at the racetrack. “Then, after my meetings, I was notified (that Childers was let go).

“Yeah, it was unexpected, but to be honest with you, I don’t think anything in this sport surprises me anymore, so you have to deal with adversity and change.”

Haley, who turns 26 on Monday, is back for his second Cup stint with Spire. But unlike his previous go-round with the organization several years ago, the Spire team now is more focused and expects stronger performances than what it got in the past.

“Obviously, it’s an unexpected change and not something you ever want to do in the middle of a season, but super proud to be with a race team and owner like Jeff Dickerson that’s not scared to make changes for maybe the better,” Haley said. “It was a fit thing, I think Jeff said in his interview with The Athletic, nothing super wrong that stood out.

“At the end of the day, we’re in the Cup Series to compete, and on a Sunday in the Cup Series, everything has to be right. If one little thing isn’t right, you’re not going to win races.

“That’s what Spire (Motorsports) is trying to do. They’ve been putting so much time, effort and resources, money, ability, put people in the right places to try to win races. I don’t think they’re scared to do anything to win a race.”

Childers’ sacking is the second big surprise from the Spire camp in the last six months. Veteran driver Corey LaJoie, who had been a stalwart at Spire for the last several seasons and was expected to return for 2025, was instead let go at the end of the 2024 campaign (finishing a career-worst 33^rd in the final standings didn’t help).

In an ironic twist, Haley came to Spire Motorsports for the 30^th week of last season from Rick Ware Racing, for whom LaJoie is now racing in 2025.

Ryan Sparks, Spire’s competition director and LaJoie’s former crew chief, will be Justin Haley’s interim crew chief for the rest of this season.

Jeff Dickerson’s Statement On Childers’ Firing

“NASCAR is an ever-evolving sport and the path to improvement isn’t always comfortable,” Dickerson said in a statement. “The break in the Cup Series schedule gave us a chance to evaluate where we are as a program. We took the opportunity to discuss the best paths forward for everyone involved, and the team and Rodney agreed that it would be best for us to part ways.

“Rodney has worked at the highest level of our sport for 20 years, and he knows what it takes to win championships. With that in mind, we collectively acknowledged challenges with the team dynamic.”

“Having the right combination of talent is just as important as the results on track. As we move in a new direction, it is not lost on us that Rodney has been an invaluable asset to our organization, as he will continue to be for others in this sport,” elaborated Dickerson.

Childers took to X earlier this week to address his abrupt departure from Spire, which read in part:

“I know this is a shock. But also know that not everything works out perfect all the time. That’s how life works. This was just one of those things that just wasn’t working for either of us.

“I appreciate my time at Spire, working with JH (Haley) and the entire 7 team. We did a lot of good that is yet to be seen, and I wish them the best in the future.”

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Motorsports

The Major Hurdles NASCAR Could Face if They Decide to Give North Wilkesboro a Spot in the Regular Season

When Dale Earnhardt Jr. first reached out to Marcus Smith about preserving North Wilkesboro Speedway through iRacing, even he may not have known how far that effort would go. What began as a digital revival gained traction among fans online, prompting Smith to green-light a CARS Tour race at the track in 2022. In a […]

Published

14 minutes ago

May 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

In a matter of months, momentum snowballed, and the venue was tapped to host the All-Star Race during NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season. From that point forward, restoration kicked into high gear.

Now, with fans and drivers expressing interest in seeing North Wilkesboro host a full-fledged Cup Series points race, a few roadblocks have entered the conversation. NASCAR journalists Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi recently highlighted several issues that could stand in the way.

Brad Keselowski shared his two cents on the idea of NWS hosting a points race, suggesting NASCAR move the All-Star Race back to Charlotte Motor Speedway and drop the Roval event altogether. Ryan Blaney echoed that view as well.

But Gluck emphasized that the primary challenge lies in the schedule itself. “But I don’t know… I mean, the dates got to some come from somewhere,” he said, with Bianchi pointing out the difficulty in finding available slots on the calendar.

When Gluck floated the idea of moving the spring Bristol race, Bianchi jumped in with a reality check, citing North Wilkesboro’s limited capacity. He noted that even with Spring Bristol running at roughly a third full, its seating still dwarfed North Wilkesboro’s.

“Even Spring Bristol, at what would you say Spring Bristol was this year? A quarter full? A third full? Yeah. I mean, let’s just say a third. Because that’s not what I’ve heard,” Bianchi said.

Jordan also touched on the sponsorship landscape. While North Wilkesboro has maintained a longstanding relationship with Food City, which has backed the venue for decades, the track lacks additional corporate support. Though he acknowledged the loyalty of that partnership, Bianchi underlined the need for broader sponsorship if North Wilkesboro wants to step up to the Cup Series spotlight.

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Motorsports

USAC National Midgets Results From Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex

Sweet Springs, Missouri — Kale Drake may not be overly superstitious, but at the least, he is certainly a little bit stitious. Prior to Sunday night’s USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship event at Missouri’s Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex, the Collinsville, Oklahoma native was involved in a series of fortunate events with the number […]

Published

52 minutes ago

May 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Sweet Springs, Missouri — Kale Drake may not be overly superstitious, but at the least, he is certainly a little bit stitious.

Prior to Sunday night’s USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship event at Missouri’s Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex, the Collinsville, Oklahoma native was involved in a series of fortunate events with the number two featuring prominently everywhere he turned.

“I was talking to (USAC official Kirk Spridgeon) and Justin (Grant) at the trailer earlier today and I told them that when I stopped at the gas station, it was $22.22. After that, I drew the pill 22, then I put on 22 tear-offs before the A-Main. I might be superstitious but I think it worked out,” Drake said with a laugh.

2025 USAC NOS Energy Drink Midgets at Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex

In the end, that same numeral played an integral role in the backdrop of Drake’s fortunes at Sweet Springs. As a matter of fact, he was leading the USAC Midget race there in 2024 with two laps remaining when he found trouble and bounced to a stop, ending his bid for the win.

On Sunday, Drake was slotted third on the final restart. Picking up from where he left off one year ago, Drake made a charge around the outside to take the lead with – you guessed it – two laps to go. Lest we mention that he led the feature three different times, each in chunks of two laps at a time – laps 1-2, laps 16-17 and laps 29-30.

When all was said it done, Drake collected – wait for it – USAC National Midget career victory number two. But to do it in such dramatic fashion, this will be one he remembers for a lifetime, possibly “two” lifetimes.

“Holy smokes, that was a long race and a technical one and super fun,” Drake exclaimed. “That’s not quite up my alley but we made it work.”

Drake was in a prime spot for the start of the 40-lap main event – on the pole position in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/Eibach – TRD – Toyota – Mobil 1/LynK/Speedway Toyota. But after leading the opening lap, he found himself suddenly on the chase of his teammate, Jacob Denney.

But on lap 16, Denney tripped over the turn two cushion, opening the door for Drake to race on by while utilizing the bottom of turns three and four to edge his way into the lead. After the lap was completed, 17th running Garrett Benson flipped into the outside wall at the exit of turn four. He was okay, but his night was over.

Now let’s flashback to before the start of the feature. Riley Kreisel was initially slated to start on the pole, but in a wild turn of events, was penalized for being late to staging, delayed while attempting to remedy a tire bleeder issue. The result was a two row penalty, which docked Kreisel back to fifth on the grid. However, as it turned out, it wasn’t much of a deterrent to the determined Kreisel.

Kreisel’s Ron Cox owned ride hadn’t been fired since January’s Chili Bowl Nationals four months earlier. Furthermore, he only found out he was going to compete at Sweet Springs at 11pm the night before. On top of everything else, it was only his third career USAC National Midget start and his first since seven years prior in 2018 at the very same 1/6-mile Sweet Springs dirt oval.

The beneficiary of Kreisel’s position shuffle was Drake who moved from the outside of the front row to the pole, a spot he actually wasn’t all that particularly at ease with.

“I didn’t know how I really felt about taking the pole over,” Drake admitted. “I didn’t really want to start the race off and set the pace, but Jacob got out in front of me and showed me what I needed to do and what not to do, which really showed me where the limit was.”

Back to Kreisel. Just after the restart, he found his groove on the bottom and rolled past Denney for second on the 17th circuit, then picked off Drake moments later on lap 18 for the lead. At the same time, 13th starting Drake Edwards followed Kreisel’s path to slot into second ahead of Drake. However, Edwards performed a half-spin in turn two on lap 24 and lost grip of the second spot to Drake in the meantime. That said, Edwards stuck with it and snuck his way back into second on the bottom past Drake as the pair worked around the lapped car of Thomas Meseraull.

Meanwhile, Kreisel’s lead had expanded to a full second and he looked to be on his way to a surefire first career USAC national victory. But on lap 37, series Rookie Brandon Carr (20th) hooked the turn one cushion and nearly flipped before coming to a rest on all fours. Kreisel’s 1.35 second advantage over the field was erased due to the caution and he now had the field bearing down on him with a three-lap shootout on the horizon.

Sitting third with three to go was Drake who had low line dwellers Kreisel and Edwards, both first time USAC national winning hopefuls, sitting in front of him coming back to green. There was only one place to “send it.”

“I had to remind myself on that restart that I know what I’m doing and I have the best guys behind me, and I just needed to hit my marks,” Drake recalled. “It really came down to that last restart. I really had to send it. If I could hit my marks, I knew I had the best car on the racetrack, so it was just a matter of committing. It took a lot of commitment to run it up there and be fast.”

Staying true to his personal pep talk under the helmet, Drake dug in on the outside and nipped Edwards at the stripe for second with two to go on lap 38. Heading to the white flag, Drake hit the cushion in turn one perfectly, then launched off turn two to dispose of Kreisel and place himself at the top of the leaderboard.

On the last go around, Drake changed course and attacked the bottom of turns three and four to thwart off Kreisel and Edwards and block the lane. Drake crossed the line with a 0.363 second margin of victory, his first in USAC since a BC39 prelim win last September.

Behind him, Justin Grant seemingly came out of nowhere, picking off both Kreisel and Edwards in one fell swoop off turn four to get the second spot by a car length. The runner-up result also moved Grant back to the top of the USAC National Midget standings. Grant’s fourth to second final corner surge proved to be the Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night.

In Arizonian Drake Edwards’ first ever visit to Sweet Springs, he earned his best career USAC National Midget finish. He very nearly won the thing after starting 13th but wound up a strong third to round out the podium.

Kreisel fell to fourth after leading a race high 21 laps while 2018 and 2024 Sweet Springs USAC Midget feature winner Logan Seavey took fifth.

Andrew Felker doesn’t run USAC National Midgets very often, but when he does, he does some mighty fine work. He advanced 12 positions on his way from 19th to 7th to collect the Rod End Supply Hard Charger award.

Earlier in the evening, Cannon McIntosh recorded his 12th career USAC National Midget fast time during Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying. That moved him to 49th on the all-time list alongside Don Meacham, Larry Rice and Josh Wise.

USAC National Midgets At Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex Results

1. Kale Drake (1), 2. Justin Grant (4), 3. Drake Edwards (13), 4. Riley Kreisel (5), 5. Logan Seavey (3), 6. Gavin Miller (11), 7. Andrew Felker (19), 8. Kyle Jones (15), 9. Cannon McIntosh (6), 10. Jacob Denney (2), 11. Kevin Thomas Jr. (9), 12. Gunnar Setser (12), 13. Daniel Robinson (24), 14. Cale Coons (18), 15. Steven Snyder Jr. (17), 16. Hayden Reinbold (7), 17. Brecken Reese (14), 18. Thomas Meseraull (21), 19. Branigan Roark (22), 20. Mack Leopard (8), 21. Brandon Carr (20), 22. Kameron Key (10), 23. Garrett Benson (16), 24. Chad Winfrey (23)

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Motorsports

Bishop Motorsports welcomes Jordan DaCosta to the team

Bishop Motorsports is proud to officially welcome 18-year-old Florida drag racing sensation Jordan DaCosta to the team. Just one month after joining the program, Jordan traveled to Minnesota to meet the team and complete his NHRA licensing process—an experience that turned heads and proved he’s one to watch. In a remarkable display of talent, Jordan […]

Published

2 hours ago

May 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

In a remarkable display of talent, Jordan successfully licensed in five NHRA classes—Super Street, Super Gas, Super Comp, Top Dragster, and Advanced ET—in just three days.

“This is something big and exciting for our sport,” said team owner Chris Bishop. “To see someone so young adapt and drive at such a high level with this kind of versatility—it’s rare. Jordan showed us right away that he’s the real deal.”

Jordan’s journey to this milestone has been fueled by determination and vision.

“I’ve been working toward finding an NHRA team that believes in me and shares the same goals,” said Jordan DaCosta. “I can’t believe I’ve gotten to this point. Before this, my personal best was a 9.33 in the quarter mile. Now, I’m leaving Minnesota with a new personal best of 7.75 seconds and a top speed of 180 MPH+. It’s unreal.”

From day one, Jordan made it clear he wasn’t here to take shortcuts. AJ from Go Lithium and Bishop Motorsports’ Partnership & Logistics Manager shared:
“From day one, Jordan showed he was willing to put in the work. We threw roadblocks in his path, and he overcame every single one without hesitation. When he finally got in the car, he didn’t just show up—he proved he belonged. Jordan is the real deal. He’s focused, driven, and eager to learn, both on and off the track. He lifts up everyone around him and shares the same vision we do. We’re proud to have him with us and excited to see where his journey takes him next.”

Adding to the excitement of the weekend, Jordan also got to experience the winner’s circle when teammate Steve Stockton captured the win in Super Pro, and teammate Cameron earned a runner-up finish in Junior Dragster. The weekend was not just a breakthrough for Jordan—it was a winning weekend all around for Bishop Motorsports.

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Motorsports

“Pissed off” Joey Logano calls out Bell, ‘gimmick’ All-Star Race caution

Joey Logano did not go and win back-to-back in the NASCAR All-Star Race, but he certainly gave it everything he had. The Team Penske driver was in control of the race until the promoter’s caution was displayed with just under 40 laps to go. The controversial new rule for this non-Championship points exhibition race allowed […]

Published

2 hours ago

May 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The controversial new rule for this non-Championship points exhibition race allowed for the race promoter to throw one caution, whenever they want, between Lap 100 and 220 in the 250-lap event.

Logano ended up finishing second to Christopher Bell, and he wasn’t too thrilled with him or Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith.

“I’m glad you had a blast,” Logano told a NASCAR on FOX reporter. “I’m pissed off right now. Just dang it, we had the fastest car. The Shell-Pennzoil Mustang was so fast. You get to — I’m trying to choose my words correctly on the caution situation. Obviously I got bit by it, so I am the one frustrated obviously.

“Gosh, I don’t know. I felt like the falloff wasn’t too bad as the sun went down, and yeah, six cars or so stayed out with us. Thought maybe we could hold him off but the 20 [Bell] had a good enough restart, cleared too many of them too fast. I couldn’t get away in time. It took me six, seven laps to get my car up and rolling again.

Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford, Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

David Jensen / Getty Images

Logano continued, struggling to hold back his annoyance. “I did all I could do to hold him off and he got under me and released the brake and gave me no option. Kind of just ran me up into the wall, and if I could’ve got to him, he was going around after a move like that, I just couldn’t get back to him. Just too much to try to make up with the tire deficit.

“Just frustrated after you lead so many laps and the car is so fast and you don’t win, it hurts quite a bit.”

In a later media scrum, Logano spoke more about Bell’s race-winning move. “It is what it is,” said Logano. “I don’t know. I mean, sure. Sure. He did it good enough that I couldn’t get back to him because I was gonna show him what fair was, but I just couldn’t get there. I just couldn’t get there with the tires. I couldn’t get away fast enough. It took me six or seven laps after that restart to get rolling again and then he passed too many cars there the first couple laps and then he was there. I was doing all I can to play defense until my rear tires would come in and it just took too long, and then he was gone. I couldn’t catch back up.

“It’s frustrating when you lead that many laps, you had the fastest car and a gimmick caution beats you. It just sucks, but it is what it is. You move on and we’ll be happy that we had the best car the last two times that we’ve been here. I wish we had two wins, though.”

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All-Star Race; Gragson Claims Fan Vote

Carson Hocevar recorded his first All-Star Open victory on Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway. NWS/HHP photo From the North Wilkesboro Speedway The NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday, May 18, added two first-time participants – winner Carson Hocevar and runner-up John Hunter Nemechek – through the All-Star Open on Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Noah Gragson […]

Published

2 hours ago

May 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Carson Hocevar recorded his first All-Star Open victory on Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway. NWS/HHP photo

From the North Wilkesboro Speedway

The NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday, May 18, added two first-time participants – winner Carson Hocevar and runner-up John Hunter Nemechek – through the All-Star Open on Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Noah Gragson qualified for his third All-Star Race start by winning the Fan Vote for the third consecutive year.

Hocevar, though, felt like the real winner. The Spire Motorsports driver assumed the point after pole winner Shane van Gisbergen dominated the opening 50 laps, but pitted for four tires under a caution period and never recovered the track position.

Hocevar used a quick two-tire stop, clean air and a strong car to keep all comers at bay, while a slew of contenders fought it out for the second transfer spot. Nemechek’s Legacy Motor Club team opted to take four tires under a late caution for Riley Herbst’s spin, and used the improved grip to catch and pass Bubba Wallace for second. Wallace faded to eighth on old tires.

Ty Dillon ended up third with Erik Jones fourth and Michael McDowell fifth. Gragson advanced after finishing 17th.

CARSON HOCEVAR, NO. 77 SPIRE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET (Race Winner): “Super big for this group, this team. It’s great to win, especially being challenged by tires there. I had my hands full. We definitely have to go to work here on our race car because I didn’t really like it, but it’s a good sign that we didn’t like it and we were still pretty quick there.”

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, NO. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB TOYOTA (Runner-Up): “We have a shot to go win a million dollars. Hats off to this No. 42 team. We unloaded and we had good two- or three-lap speed, but no longer on pace. Proud of them for the effort they put in yesterday and what they were able to find, and pitting there at that last deal, I knew I couldn’t win from where I was at. We came and got two (tires) and that helped us out. Hats off to the whole 42 team. Proud of the effort.”

NOAH GRAGSON, NO. 4 FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS FORD (Fan Vote Winner): “The fans are the GOATs. It’s awesome to be part of this All-Star Race. Thank God for that Open race, because I feel like we got the balance fixed.”

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Motorsports

Alex Bowman & Hendrick Motorsports Treat the 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race as a Test Session Despite Solid Top-5 Finish

All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers currently sit inside the top eight of the Cup Series standings, thanks to their consistent runs and trips to victory lane. That form seemed to take some of the pressure off heading into the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, which the team treated more as a tune-up than a must-win […]

Published

3 hours ago

May 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Three of the HMS cars cracked the top six by the end of the night, though Kyle Larson faded to a P21 finish after showing early pace and leading five laps.

Bowman led the charge for the team, bringing his #48 home in fourth after starting ninth. Reflecting on the performance, he credited his crew for digging deep. “We were so bad yesterday and the guys made the right adjustments,” Bowman said. “Our hands are pretty tied on what we can or can’t change, and they made a lot of really good calls to take us from struggling pretty bad to at least having a shot at it there at the end.”

Though a fourth-place result in a non-points race doesn’t move the needle in the standings, Bowman acknowledged the improvement was a step forward. “I think we certainly came here just to try to learn things. It pays $1 million, but honestly, winning a regular Cup race, with the playoff implications and everything, it adds up to more than that. So yeah, just came here to learn.”

Chase Elliott, who crossed the line right behind Bowman, admitted he wished he had been in the mix for the win, calling it a strong race for track position.

He noted the event ran smoother than last year’s edition and felt his #9 Chevy was competitive, just a tick off the pace needed to win. “We were in the mix, but we just needed a little bit more [pace] to be there with Joey [Logano] and Christopher [Bell],” Elliott said.

William Byron also tipped his cap to the entire HMS lineup but pointed out that his #24 team needs to keep chipping away. “We were good to start the weekend and good to start the race, but it just seemed like it kind of went away on us,” Byron said. While he admitted he didn’t expect to walk away with the win, he felt they were at least in the ballpark. Overall, he was content with the performance but knew there is more work to be done.

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