In 1998, Rodney Childers was at a turning point in his driving career.
He was on the brink of becoming a “real race car driver,” ready to transition to full-sized late models after years of competing on the go-kart circuit.
“Winning a lot in the go-kart industry is one thing, but when you get in a race car, you need to be able to get it done,” Childers said. “I was just a young kid.”
In 1997, Childers ran about five late model races with little to show for it. But one year later, he was determined to give it another go with the help of Greg Marlow, who sold Childers a new late model.
“Greg helped with shocks and springs and setup stuff, and then we went to the first race of the year (at Tri-County Speedway), sat on the pole and led all 150 laps and took all of the veterans’ money that night,” Childers said.
He recalled how comical the post-race technical inspection was.
“They tore it down into a million pieces because they felt there was no way I just beat people like Max Prestwood and Binky Bollinger and Dexter Canipe and all of those guys that used to win all the time,” Childers said.
In the ensuing weeks, Childers proved to be more than a one-hit wonder as he won the Fall Brawl at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway and a handful of other races.
“We went to the beach and should have won that. Me and Philip Morris got into it with about 10 to go and cut a tire down, and then went to Kenly the next week and sat on the pole and led 190 of the 200 laps and the transmission broke with 10 to go, so it was gonna be a good year,” Childers said.
It’s safe to say that 1998 is a fond memory for Childers, who is now a championship-winning crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series. His driving career, which ended in 2003, will be honored this weekend at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway with a special paint scheme on Josh Berry’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, which Childers serves as crew chief.
Berry, whose roots also lie in the late model world, will display the metallic silver and deep red paint scheme of Childers’ 1998 late model on his Mustang Dark Horse.
“I know (Rodney) will be really excited to see it back on track, and maybe a little bit emotional. I just hope we can go out there and have a strong run and do his car justice because he was bad-ass in it,” Berry said.
Childers may be biased on the matter, but he believes Berry’s paint scheme is one of the better ones that surfaced for NASCAR’s annual Throwback Weekend.
“I’ve seen some other people’s throwback cars that are for Darlington this weekend and, honestly, I was disappointed. As cool as they are, they’re not about grassroots racing and that’s really what this focus was supposed to be on. I’d like to have seen more late model guys and modified guys and super late model guys,” Childers explained.
“We said to focus on the grassroots side of things and what has gotten us all here, whether it’s the drivers, the crew chiefs, the crew members, there’s a lot of people that have grown up doing this stuff and have had a lot of special moments throughout their career.
“I think to be able to celebrate that just like ours with the 4 car is extremely special.”