WATCH: Rodney Childers explains how Richard Petty’s grandson’s tragic death changed his whole career

Rodney Childers started his NASCAR career as a racer.

WATCH: Rodney Childers explains how Richard Petty’s grandson’s tragic death changed his whole career

Rodney Childers and Richard Petty (Via IMAGO)

NASCAR changed for good in the start of the 2000s following the tragic accidents that took the life of the likes of Dale Earnhardt and Adam Petty. The sports and people associated with it was forced to drivers’ safety more serious than ever and the safety revolution has kept every driver safe from such tragedies ever since.  

These incidents changed the life of many in the NASCAR garage and Stewart Haas Racing No:4 team crew chief Rodney Childers was one of them. In his recent appearance in Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, he asserted that the tragedies made him rethink his aspirations to become a racer and paved the way for his career as a crew member.

Looking back on it, a lot of the turning points was when Dale Sr. got killed, Kenny Irwin got killed, Adam Petty got killed. A lot of that stuff started stacking up on me there for a while, and I can remember... Stacking up mentally? Yeah, mentally. My goal was always to be a race car driver, and then these people started getting killed.
Rodney Childers said via Happy Hour Podcast.

The incident that emotionally hit him the most was the death of 19-year-old Adam Petty, who was the grandson of Richard Petty, who he has raced with every weekend. The emotional baggage alongside his stalling career was too much for him to ignore and not to make the career switch.

FS Video
Finally, I remember screaming at home one day, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done. But it was hard for me to accept how emotional I am. I raced every weekend against Adam Petty, and I think that one probably hit me the most.
Rodney Childers added.
RELATED
Rodney Childers asserts Tony Stewart and Gene Haas made “300 people really mad” with SHR decision
Gene Haas, Rodney Childers and Tony Stewart

A good friend convinced Rodney Childers to become a crew member

Rodney Childers went onto point out that it was one of his friends that convinced him take the path of engineer. The person believed in the skills of Childers and told him the he is capable of making it to the top, and rest is NASCAR history.

Rodney Childers
Rodney Childers
Honestly, one of my good friends just told me I was crazy if I didn't go work on a cup team. He had been on one for three years, and he's like, you have no idea how fast you're going to move up the ladder compared to some of these guys that work in these cars, and he was right.
Rodney Childers said.

The future Spire Motorsports crew chiefs story shows how the early 200s tragedies changed NASCAR for the good and bad. These stories help to carry on the legacy of those racers who unfortunately lost their lives.

In case you missed it: