Veteran Crew Chief Unveils Radical Fix to Save NASCAR’s Next Gen Car

NASCAR senior vice president of competition, Elton Sawyer, recently admitted that increasing the horsepower of the Next Gen is now “on the table,” and they are actively talking with engine builders about bumping up power from the current 670 HP package. Meanwhile, whispers among drivers and crew chiefs suggest that the car’s woes go deeper than just power. Chris Gabehart of Joe Gibbs Racing pointed out that the car has a horsepower-to-grip ratio imbalance; in other words, there is too much grip for the amount of power, making passing in close racing harder than it should be. And now, in parallel, one NASCAR veteran crew chief has given the problem a whole angle.

The Gen-7 NASCAR car was supposed to be the shiny future of short-track racing, but instead, it’s turned into a headache. The horsepower is capped so low that the cars feel neutered, and crashes have shown the underbody can behave like a parachute in all the wrong ways. And with blown tires, visibility quirks, and an aero package that rewards whoever gets clean at first, you’ve got a car that is fast on paper but frustrating on the track. And NASCAR veteran crew chief Rodney Childers sounds off on it.

Speaking on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, Childers pinpointed exactly what needs to change: “Yeah, I mean, you can always kind of pinpoint to the underbody may be causing some of this stuff in traffic. Um, I still think the tires are too wide. You know, I think you could narrow up the wheel from the inside. You know, leave the outside of the wheel where it’s at, the face of the wheel, and just bring the inside of the wheel outboard basically and narrow up the tires a couple inches.”

So essentially, NASCAR gave the Next Gen a sealed floor and a diffuser, basically making the car act like a giant vacuum cleaner. The car works well in clean air, but once you’re behind another car, the aero balance changes, and suddenly it feels like you’re skating. Then there are the 18-inch wheels with fat 12-inch wide tires. They look cool and grip well, but that huge contact patch actually makes traffic worse. But don’t forget the price tag attached to all of this.

Rodney Childers added, “That’s how I have felt from the get-go. You know, it’s all about what’s connecting the car to the track that’s going to make the most difference. Whether you’re, you know, whether you’re on a go-kart, whether you’re in a late model, whether it’s a Cup car, that’s really what’s going to make the most difference. So, and you know, it’s hard to throw away a bunch of race cars. It’s hard to throw away a bunch of bodies, a bunch of floors that cost a lot of money…And, you know, I think it would be worth trying. You know, it would cost a lot of money from Goodyear’s standpoint to redo molds and do all that stuff, but, you know, we have to do what’s right for the sport, and it would be worth looking into that.”

Tire sets alone can run about $2,400. Flows, diffusers, and underbody panels aren’t cheap either, and since they are spec parts, any redesign means remodeling and re-manufacturing for the entire field. Goodyear and NASCAR can fix it, sure, but wallets are going to feel it first. Goodyear and NASCAR are unstoppable. With the Cup garage heading to Bristol for the night race this weekend, the organization has opted to sponsor right-side softer tires. Goodyear’s strategy seems to be that they are choosing to go more aggressive on short tracks, and Dale Jr. is all for it. However, tire wear is inevitable, and as Rodney Childers points out, the issue with the Next-Gen car is that it has eyes set on higher goals.

Rodney Childers eyes a NASCAR comeback amid Next-Gen car struggles

Veteran NASCAR crew chief Rodney Childers isn’t one to stay on the sidelines for long, and now he is sounding more fired up than ever. The 49-year-old opened up about his recent hiatus and his burning desire to return to the pit box: “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.”

Childers and Kevin Harvick formed one of the sport’s most formidable duos at Stewart-Haas Racing, winning the 2014 Cup Series Championship together. But after SHR closed its doors in 2024, Rodney made a brief move to Spire Motorsports to lead Justin Haley’s No. 7 team for the 2025 season. The fit, however, was far from perfect. After just nine races and a strained team dynamic, Rodney was released. Now at 49, he says he has never been more focused: “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.”

Childers made it clear that when the next opportunity comes knocking, he is not just showing up; he is locking in. During his brief time with Spire, the results were underwhelming. Haley notched just one top 10 finish at Homestead-Miami, while teammate Carson Hocevar snagged a runner-up finish in Atlanta. After Rodney’s departure, Spire Motorsport’s competition director Ryan Sparks took over as crew chief. Since then, the No. 7 team has managed just one top-five and two top-10 finishes across 28 races, not exactly a seismic turnaround. As the 2025 season winds down, one thing is crystal clear: Rodney Childers isn’t done. In fact, he might just be getting started.