Spire Co-Owner on Rodney Childers Decision: “We Approached Him”
What’s Happening? By far, the most important news story from this past week is Championship-winning Crew Chief Rodney Childers’s departure from…
Though 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Silly Season has remained rather quiet, the gears are slowly starting to turn. Driver Justin Haley is on the hot seat in his new ride at Spire Motorsports, not even one year into his term with the team, according to a new report.
One of the biggest movers during the 2025 NASCAR Silly Season, Justin Haley, could already be on the skids in his first year at Spire Motorsports. Per a new report from Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, Haley, in his first full-time season with Spire Motorsports, is currently on the hot seat.
This is no surprise, as Bianchi hinted at the developing situation during the latest episode of his and Jeff Gluck’s podcast, The Teardown, after Sunday’s race at Iowa Speedway. During that episode, Bianchi said that despite recent improvements for the No. 7 team, Haley still “needs to get better.”
Bianchi expanded on this in a new report Tuesday morning, saying that if the 26-year-old doesn’t show “considerable improvement,” the team could move on “before the season is out.”
While this would be shocking, it is, of course, how Haley landed this ride in the first place. Twenty-nine races into the season, Spire opted to move on from cornerstone driver Corey LaJoie, swapping Haley in for the veteran. This was part of a larger 2025 Silly Season from Spire, which hoped that Haley and 2014 Cup Series Champion Crew Rodney Childers would pair nicely this season.
Since the green flag dropped in Daytona, it has been anything but smooth sailing for Haley.
Justin Haley made his name in NASCAR racing for Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Alongside those full-time starts in NASCAR’s secondary series from 2019 to 2021, Haley also made partial Cup Series starts with Spire Motorsports, winning the team its first and only race so far during the 2019 rain-shortened summer race at Daytona.
Haley would go full-time at the Cup Series level alongside Kaulig Racing in 2022. However, after back-to-back lackluster seasons, Haley bet on himself in 2024 and signed with Rick Ware Racing, which most consider to be the backmarker of all chartered teams in the Cup Series.
Through his 29 races in the No. 51, Haley put up never-before-seen numbers at RWR. This caught the attention of many teams, including Spire, which is in the middle of a major shake-up and preparing to take a big step in 2025. Alongside bringing in Michael McDowell and his Crew Chief, Travis Peterson, for 2025, Spire also signed Kevin Harvick’s longtime Crew Chief, Rodney Childers, to call the shots for the No. 7 team in 2025.
Though the 2025 season looks to be a fresh start for Spire, things remain the same in the No. 7 camp. Through the first nine races of the season, the team had one top-10 finish but failed to keep up with its Spire Motorsports teammates. Around this time, Childers and Spire announced a shocking mutual parting of ways on Apr. 23.
Since then, Haley‘s disappointing season has continued with the No. 7 team, which is failing to keep pace statistically with his Spire Motorsports teammates, including the worst average finish of all Spire entries.
While Haley’s performance has improved lately, the team still needs to take a more drastic turn. This silly season was expected to remain quiet, but if Spire moves on from Haley, this move could open doors for free agents such as Daniel Suarez.
What’s Happening? By far, the most important news story from this past week is Championship-winning Crew Chief Rodney Childers’s departure from…
Let us know your thoughts on this! Join the discussion on Discord or X, and remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more updates.
