NASCAR crew chief Rodney Childers opened up about his hiatus on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, admitting he’s itching to return to the racetrack to beat the competition. He emphasized that if given another shot, he’d be fully committed and ready to give it everything.For a short background, Childers served as crew chief for Harvick at Stewart-Haas Racing. Together, they won the Cup Series championship in 2014.After SHR shut down last year, the veteran shot caller joined Spire Motorsports to work with Justin Haley for the 2025 season. But his stint was short-lived. He was released after just nine races, pointing to a difficult team dynamic as one of the main factors behind the split.Now, Rodney Childers says he’s more ready than ever to return to a NASCAR team, sharing that he’s gotten rid of the distractions he once had, saying (via Happy Hour on X):“I just want to smash them, I really do.”“It's put me in a situation where I just want to prove a point. Over time, I had accumulated some things. As you know, I like going and running UTVs and doing different things. Over this time, I've got rid of every distraction that I have. I have no more distractions. The only distractions I have are a family and kids, and maybe going to a cross-country meet,” he added.The 49-year-old vowed to be fully dedicated in his next role, concluding:“Whenever this next opportunity comes about, it's going to be 24/7. I'm not going to lay down. I'll be the first one there and the last one to leave. We'll see what happens from there.”During his first nine races with the #7 Spire Motorsports team, Justin Haley only had one top-10 finish, which came from Homestead-Miami Speedway. In the same period, teammate Carson Hocevar scored a second-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway.After Rodney Childers was released, Spire’s competition director, Ryan Sparks, took over as crew chief starting at Talladega Superspeedway. Across 28 races, the #7 team has recorded one top-5 and two top-10s.“I can still do it better than most”: Rodney Childers on potential NASCAR crew chief roleAfter congratulating Chase Briscoe on his win at Darlington Raceway, Rodney Childers was asked if he missed the NASCAR Cup Series. He said yes, adding that he still believes he can perform the role of crew chief better than most.In an X post, the former Stewart-Haas Racing shot caller wrote:“I miss competing, yes, every single day. I miss being a leader like I was good at. I know I can still do it better than most, and I’m more determined now than ever.”Rodney Childers won the NASCAR championship with Kevin Harvick in 2014 - Source: ImagnChilders’ most successful stretch in the Cup Series came with Kevin Harvick, starting with their championship run in 2014. The duo collected 36 points-paying victories out of Harvick’s 60 career wins. When Harvick retired in 2023, Childers shifted over to work with Josh Berry the following season.