JR Motorsports is the home Rodney Childers was looking for early in 2026

Rodney Childers is amongst the first to clock in every morning at JR Motorsports and amongst the last to clock out several months into the next chapter of a no-doubt NASCAR Hall of Fame career.

That’s how you know this is working out for the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief now tasked with leading a No. 1 car split between Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch. After spending most of last season on the outside looking in following his departure from Spire Motorsports, Childers wasn’t sure he would find this kind of passion and motivation again.

“The biggest thing about being at JRM is the way it operates,” Childers told Motorsport.com on Friday. “I feel at home and I wake up every morning excited. I’m still about the first one there and the last one to leave and have a lot of ideas and thoughts about how to make things better.

“I don’t know what anyone else would say, but I do feel like I have made the whole place better, and that’s important to me. That’s what my main goal was, not to just make the No. 1 car run good, but to make the whole organization better with a lot of small details that some people don’t think matter.

“But to have five wins in a row, and to see the smiles on Dale and Kelley’s face every week, and everyone in the building, that’s really important to me.”

So Childers will be pleased to learn that others in that building indeed do feel as though the addition has been significant. For example, Justin Allgaier is leading the championship with three wins paired with Andrew Overstreet but was quick to praise the entire group, including the 40-time winner at the highest level.

“I think anytime you’re on the Cup side, and you understand the Cup process and details, I think there are a lot of things on the O’Reilly Series side that we don’t have access to,” Allgaier said. “Whether it’s details, personnel, data or manufacturer stuff, Rodney has seen it all and been ultra-successful at the highest level for a long time, you don’t see it a lot, that guy coming back down and bringing all that knowledge with him.

“It’s the same as when you see Cup drivers come down and race here. Yes, they are ultra-talented, no question, but they also can gather way more information and a lot higher sampling rate.”

He’s speaking from experience right now because he’s now that guy doubling his seat time and download bandwidth now that’s he driving the No. 48 for Hendrick Motorsports until Alex Bowman can return. weekend that I'm running the Cub car here, just last few weeks, I'm doubling or tripling the amount of laps that I'm running on that race service every weekend, right?

“So, a guy like Rodney, who has done it all and seen it all, he brings a competitiveness and a willingness to say good enough is never good enough, right,” Allgaier added.

He said the same can be said Overstreet, Mardy Lindley and Phillip Bell too, that everyone in the building is pushing each other and that Childers has simply elevated the bar within the company ever so higher.

“I’m super proud of that,” Allgaier said. “That’s what you’re looking for and as a company, when you have that, we better make the most of that opportunity. Andrew has done a good job of that.

“We’ve always had good people and good tools around us that we’re able to build from, and I do think Rodney has been great, but it’s just elevated the whole company and each of us are reaping the benefits of that.”

To wit, Kvapil is still seeking his first career victory but has been right there in the mix with Allgaier for wins and arguably should have outdueled the No. 7 at Phoenix but didn’t nail the last restart.

So on one hand, the pressure is mounting but there’s also confidence at the two-time CARS Tour champion could win on any given Saturday when he’s driving the No. 1.

“I think Rodney coming on board has been huge for me,” Kvapil said. “Not just in the aspect that the cars are fast but he’s just a good leader for the whole team. Everyone loves him. I don’t think I have met one person so far that dislikes Rodney Childers.

“When people feel that way about you, they give you 100 percent. If I make a mistake, I feel bad because what it makes Rodney feel, if that makes sense. He’s just a good leader and everyone on this 1 team, drivers, road crew, we all want to do our best for him.

“So our cars are really fast and we’re running in the top-5, but top-5s aren’t great days for us. We should be top-three.”

Childers says part of his role with Kvapil, especially as he nears his first win at this level, is not over-coaching him. The 49-year-old says he motivates through conviction and not heavy-handedness.

“The biggest thing to me, in talking to him over the winter, was that Carson was overthinking everything,” Childers said. “He had like information overload. I think they were throwing too much at him, telling him how to drive every lap.

“I told him I’m not going to tell him how to drive of SMT that isn’t always very good. He got here because he knows how to drive. It’s up to us to give him the car he wants to drive. I say it all the time, it goes back to what Kevin (Harvick) always said about how you can’t drive a slow car fast. He hasn’t had slow cars but it’s my job to make the car faster. We’re going to win because we gave him the fast car and it’s going to come together on the day he has that and everyone executes.”

Again, all told, Childers feels at home at JR Motorsports.

It’s not exactly home like Stewart-Haas Racing was or even last year in Late Model Stock Cars with Kevin Harvick Inc. but this new home has a little bit of everything he was doing before.

“It's different,” he said. “There are some weeks this feels like old Cup racing and there’s some weeks we feel like we’re ARCA Racing in the sense that it’s second fiddle and you feel like people aren’t paying as much attention. But there are weeks where it feels like Cup racing back in the day and that’s so much fun.

“I just have really enjoyed being around Carson and I love his personality and the way he grew up, the way he thinks, and he reminds me of me. He fits our team really well. We’ve ended up with a great race team … and we have speed. We’ve qualified on the front row three of the first six races or something like that.

“Everyone is doing a great job and hopefully we can get one here before long.”

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It was “Strangers Things” Night at Hi Corbett Field, and Arizona sent ASU to the upside down with one wild inning to even the rivalry series.

The Wildcats scored seven times in the bottom of the 7th to beat the Sun Devils 7-4 on Friday.

“It’s a great win against our arch rival,” said head coach Chip Hale. “Even with the losses, we’re going to keep moving forward. Something will turn for us, but the problem is people think, ‘Well, it’s gonna turn,’ well you have to make a turn and tonight we made it turn.”

ASU pitcher Cole Carlon kept the Wildcats (10-20, 3-8 Big 12) at bay for a majority of the game. Pitching six innings, he struck out 12 Wildcat batters and left seven runners on base.

“He definitely had our number, and when we got him out of there, I think our guys got a lot of confidence and took advantage of it,” said Hale.

The ferocious comeback started in the 7th inning when Arizona finally found the scoreboard as the ASU bullpen. Carson McEntire singled to left field to get a runner on for the Wildcats and was advanced on a fly out by Mathis Meurant. Nate Novitske was able to reach first base after a fielding error by the Sun Devils, which gave McEntire enough time to come home.

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Caleb Danzeisen was walked, then both he and Novitske advanced on a wild pitch by ASU. The bases were then loaded when Tony Lira was walked. The deficit was cut in half when Roman Meyers was also walked to bring in Novitske.

With the bases still loaded, Andrew Cain singled to center field bringing home both Danzeisen and Lira to tie the game. Beau Sylvester was intentionally walked to load the bases yet again.

Arizona took the lead for good when Maddox Mihalakis singled to right field bringing in Meyers and Cain. Sylvester scored the final run of the game when ASU balked.

The Sun Devils (22-9, 6-4) ould never recover from losing a 4-run lead in one inning. They had dominated the game for six innings, but one bad inning was the difference.

Smith Bailey pitched five innings and got five strikeouts. All four of ASU’s runs came against Bailey but that was mainly due to poor defense from the rest of the Wildcats.

“It was a tough start,” Hale said. “Made some defensive mistakes, and I thought Smith bailed us out, you know, to get us out of there at 4-0.”

Collin McKinney threw 2.1 shutout innings before Maclain Roberts and Garett Hicks came in to pitch the rest of the game. McKinney got his first win of the season and is now 1-5, while Hicks earned his third save.

“The city of Tucson supports us so well, and we’ve been battling,” said Hale. “I just hope they appreciate the way the guys bust their tails for them. They want to be the best team they can be, and obviously wins and losses right now are not on our side, but we still have a chance.”

Fans might not be able to fully support the team Saturday with the series finale being played around the same time as the basketball team’s Final Four game. Regardless, Arizona will play the rubber match and hope to pull off the series win against ASU tomorrow.

Chelsea welcome Port Vale to Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening for a historic FA Cup quarter-final encounter.

This fixture marks the first competitive meeting between these two clubs in 97 years. Head coach Liam Rosenior is desperate to halt a bruising four-match losing streak in all competitions. The Blues currently sit sixth in the Premier League but face a defining moment in their season.

Chelsea boast a remarkable record against lower-league opposition, winning their last 37 cup ties against such opponents. Notably, a victory today would see the Blues reach their seventh FA Cup semi-final in the last decade.

Port Vale arrive in West London as the lowest-ranked team remaining in the competition. The Valiants sit at the bottom of League One, yet they have produced a fairytale cup run. Manager Jon Brady has overseen five consecutive victories to reach this stage for only the second time ever.

Following their shock fifth-round win over Sunderland, the visitors aim to become the first third-tier side since 2018 to eliminate two top-flight clubs in one campaign.

Chelsea vs Port Vale – Match preview and team news

• Date: Saturday, 4 April 2026
• Kick-off: 17:30 BST
• Venue: Stamford Bridge, London
• Referee: Farai Hallam
• VAR: Neil Davies

Team news

Chelsea

Liam Rosenior confirmed a significant internal sanction for Enzo Fernández following comments made during the international break. The midfielder will miss today’s match and next week’s clash with Manchester City. However, wingers Estêvão Willian and Jamie Gittens are both fit to feature.

Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, and Levi Colwill all remain sidelined through injury. Notably, João Pedro enters the tie in lethal cup form, having scored seven goals in his last seven FA Cup appearances.

Port Vale

The visitors must navigate this quarter-final without George Byres, Jayden Stockley, and Ben Heneghan. Midfielder Ryan Croasdale faces a late fitness test before kick-off. Notably, striker Ben Waine has already netted three FA Cup goals this season. Port Vale will be backed by 6,000 travelling supporters in the Shed End tonight.

Form

Chelsea

Chelsea have reached the quarter-finals after victories over Charlton, Hull, and Wrexham. Despite their domestic cup success, the Blues have struggled lately, conceding 12 goals in their last four matches. Significantly, the Londoners have never lost an away game to Port Vale in seven attempts.

Port Vale

Port Vale’s cup heroics contrast sharply with a league campaign that leaves them 14 points adrift of safety. The Valiants have kept four clean sheets during their impressive run to the last eight. Notably, their last FA Cup quarter-final appearance occurred 72 years ago during the 1953-54 season.

Predicted lineups

Chelsea Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Acheampong, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Hato; Lavia, Caicedo; Neto, Estevao, Garnacho; Delap

Port Vale Predicted XI (5-4-1): Gauci; Lawrence-Gabriel, C Hall, Humphreys, John, Gordon; Waine, Ojo, Walters, Archer; Brown

How to watch Chelsea vs Port Vale?

The match will be televised live in the UK on BBC One and TNT Sports 1. Digital streaming is available via the BBC iPlayer and discovery+ apps.

Read more- The four nations going to their first ever World Cup this year

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