Dale Earnhardt Jr. gives a blunt take on Justin Haley’s ‘derailed’ season amid Rodney Childers’ sudden exit from Spire: “It has been awful” 

On the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, former NASCAR Cup Series star Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave his take on Spire Motorsports driver Justin Haley's 2025 season. He claimed Haley to be a "good agent," but later touched upon his downfall, including his former crew chief's exit.

Haley debuted in the Cup Series with his current team, Spire Motorsports, in 2019 and drove part-time, showcasing his remarkable skills. Since his rookie season, he has been part of multiple teams and proved his mettle. He competed in the 2024 season under Rick Ware Racing and landed a few top-ten finishes. However, the Cup Series driver was then moved to Spire Motorsports in the final stage of the 2024 season and has been struggling with the team.

Reflecting on his transition, Dale Earnhardt Jr. recalled crew chief Rodney Childers' sudden exit just after nine races in the season. Earnhardt Jr. explained (via TobyChristie.com):

“Justin Haley was a good free agent in this sport. He drove for Rick Ware and did some pretty interesting, solid, and pretty curious runs in that car. And he has leveraged that into this opportunity at Spire. But since he’s been there, it has been awful. It’s been bad."

“Rodney got out of there, we’ll never really know, Rodney is not going to tell his side of the story. He’s never going to say anything negative about anybody, and the Spire guys aren’t going to say anything bad about Rodney. We’ll never know what happened there, but I think that derailed Haley a little bit,” Earnhardt added.

Since Childers' exit, Ryan Sparks has held the command of the #7 Chevy Camaro ZL1 team and has secured only one top-15 finish. Haley ranks 29th in the Cup Series points table with 234 points, making him the lowest Spire Motorsports driver among the three drivers.

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"So hard to watch the final two episodes": Rodney Childers gave a candid take on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s father, Dale Sr.'s, documentary

Earlier in May, former Spire Motorsports crew chief Rodney Childers gave a candid take on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s father, Dale Sr.'s documentary, Earnhardt. Childers acknowledged the last two episodes were "hard to watch" and recognized how that impacted the sport over the years.

The third episode of the series reflects on Earnhardt Sr.'s dominance during the '90s and especially focuses on his Daytona 500 victory. Meanwhile, the final episode touched upon Dale Sr.'s tragic passing at the Daytona International Speedway on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

Recalling the emotional moment, Rodney Childers wrote on X:

"So hard to watch the final two episodes. Lots of days and nights I don’t want to remember. But so amazing to see and remember where the sport was at during that point. So incredible. Great job on this by @DaleJr @KellyEarnhardt @NASCAR and everyone @PrimeVideo"

Following in his father's footsteps, Dale Earnhardt Jr. competed in the Daytona 500 and secured two wins in 2004 and 2014. Additionally, he secured one pole position at the crown jewel event in 2011 while driving for Hendrick Motorsports.