“My new boss man”: Rodney Childers shares a birthday message for NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. 

Veteran crew chief Rodney Childers shared a message for new 'boss man' Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his 51st birthday (October 10).

Childers, who is known for his tenure at Stewart-Haas Racing, parted ways with Spire Motorsports earlier this year and announced his move to JR Motorsports for the 2026 season last month. He is set to work in the No. 1 team with drivers Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch, who are set to share driving part-time Xfinity duties next year.

Childers retweeted a post by JRM on X, writing:

"Happy Birthday to my new boss man [Dale Earnhardt Jr.]!"

Childers and Dale Jr. have known each other for a long time; they went to the same high school and were classmates.

"Rodney and I grew up together and have known each other since we were kids, That's a relationship that has always been close and has remained close to this day. We've always had interest in working together in motorsports and I'm thankful that this opportunity came about and we could bring him into the JRM family," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said in a statement.

Childers built his reputation over two decades in Cup Series pit boxes. He won the 2014 NASCAR Cup title with Kevin Harvick at Stewart-Haas Racing and then moved to other Cup teams. He joined Spire Motorsports for the 2025 season and separated in April.

Meanwhile, Dale Jr. continues to expand his Xfinity team while balancing broadcasting and business projects. The former NASCAR Cup driver signed a new multi-year contract with Amazon and TNT this season, while JRM made its debut in the Cup Series earlier this season. JRM drivers, Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier, also lead the Xfinity points standings ahead of the Round of 8 opener this weekend.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrates his 51st birthday with a High Rock cake

Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrated his birthday with a High Rock Vodka bottle cake with his wife, Amy Earnhardt, on their Bless Your 'Hardt podcast.

In 2022, the couple, who tied the knot in 2016, introduced a handcrafted vodka brand, High Rock, in collaboration with the Sugarlands Distilling Company. During a clip from the latest episode of the podcast, Amy shared that Dale Jr. gets a birthday cake each year from the brand.

"Happy Birthday, [Dale Jr]! 🍻🎉. You can have your cake and eat it too, thanks to [Amy Earnhardt] and [High Rock Vodka]," Dirty Mo Media wrote on X.

Meanwhile, in a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, the NASCAR Cup Series broadcaster for Amazon said that the sport is missing a key TV show.

Dale Jr. called for a "pillar show" that would air every week and review races, with more focus on practice and qualifying. He also pointed to RPM 2Night, a show from the late 1990s, as a model.

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Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar