Spire Motorsports Insider Finally Spills the Bean on Dismissed Championship Winner

Spire Motorsports has always been a bit of an underdog with a rebel streak. Since bursting onto the Cup Series scene in 2019 with a surprise Daytona win, the team has worn its scrappy, outsider identity like a badge of honor. Fast forward to 2025, and Spire’s got bigger resources, bigger ambitions, and way bigger expectations. But with growth comes growing pains. And this year, the team’s been a mixed bag of promise and puzzlement.

With Justin Haley behind the wheel and championship-winning minds on the pit box, the ingredients seemed right. That is… until one unexpected shake-up sent shockwaves through the garage. Just nine races into the 2025 season, Spire Motorsports decided to part ways with championship-winning crew chief, Rodney Childers. He was seen as the final piece of the puzzle to take Spire’s flagship program, the #7, with Haley behind the wheel, to new heights. Instead, they took a wrong turn, which ultimately ended in a breakup.

A single top-10 result in the first nine races of the season, it seems as if the on-track performance dictated the current dealings at Spire. However, team co-owner, Jeff Dickerson cleared the air quickly, stating that Childres’ departure from the team wasn’t about the results.

Why did Spire split with Rodney Childers?

Spire Motorsports made headlines for all the wrong reasons when it parted ways with Rodney Childers. The split announced on April 23, 2025, came just nine races into the 2025 season. On paper, it made no sense. Childers, a Cup Series champion with 40 career wins, should’ve been a game-changer. Instead, Spire chose to reset and move forward, even if it meant facing scrutiny.

Dickerson didn’t pretend the optics weren’t brutal. “It looks like we are just pulling this out of our a—,” he admitted. But for Spire, the breakup wasn’t an emotional reaction. It was a calculated call. “You don’t get to date before you get married,” Dickerson said to Jeff Gluck in an interview. Turns out, what looked right on paper didn’t feel right on the racetrack.

“This wasn’t about results,” Dickerson said firmly. The No. 7 team wasn’t underperforming. The issue, instead, was intangible—energy, chemistry, and communication. Both Justin Haley and Rodney Childers, he explained, were quiet and methodical. Without a spark plug to energize the garage, momentum stalled. Spire Motorsports didn’t want to drag things out, so they pulled the plug early.

Why did @SpireMotorsport part ways with @RodneyChilders4? I spoke to Jeff Dickerson to get some answers here: https://t.co/pFjP9gbyKt

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) April 25, 2025

Rather than Haley pushing for the change, he was left stunned. “He was as surprised about it as Rodney was,” Dickerson revealed. The move blindsided even the driver. As for Rodney Childers, he quietly confirmed: “It just wasn’t working.” The lack of internal tension made the decision even harder. But Spire felt letting go of Rodney Childers, a Tri-County Speedway Hall of Famer, was necessary.

Childers wasn’t a lone wolf, Dickerson clarified, squashing past garage whispers. “Rodney was a team player.” But even with full buy-in, expectations on both sides didn’t align. Dickerson owned the choice. “The easy thing would’ve been to let it roll,” he said. “But Spire needs to cause change, not wait for it.” It will be interesting to see how this decision plays out for Spire in the 2025 season.

Spire didn’t wait for the right time to make the call and took a Legacy Motor Club kind of approach with the Childers situation. But this move seems to come to bit them in their back as the #7 team found themselves in deep waters before they could go racing at Talladega.

Justin Haley loses his crew chief and pit selection after failing the pre-race tech twice

Ryan Sparks who was working in the capacity of the competitions director at Spire was roped in as the new crew chief for #7 Chevy team. Sparks knows the ins and the outs of the team as he used to call the shots for the #7 team when Corey LaJoie was a part of the organization. It looked like an easy fix, one that wouldn’t leave the team in trouble, and they wanted to play it safe.

Well, despite the experience and the familiarity with the team, Haley’s race car couldn’t clear tech inspection ahead of the Jack Link’s 500 race at Talladega. Bob Pockrass from FOX shared an update about the same on X. “Cup tech: Haley car failed twice and they had car chief ejected and lose pit selection. Haley car passed on third time through. Rest of field passed on first or second try (most needed a second try). “

Not the best look for a team that just fired an experienced crew chief only to find themselves without the support on the raceday and barely making the cut through the tech. Jeff Dickerson and Co. have taken a huge gamble by parting ways with Childers with just nine races into the season. Only time will tell if this decision was in the best interest of the driver and the team or not.

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