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NASCAR on NBC podcast, Ep. 63: Rodney Childers says intentionally going slow was wrong move

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 - Practice

CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 26: Rodney Childers, crew chief for the #4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, looks on during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 27, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images)

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When he met with crew chief Rodney Childers about joining forces three years ago, Kevin Harvick was impressed by what the crew chief’s goals, even if they seemed daunting.

Set the pace in every practice. Win every pole. Lead every lap.

Win every race. Win the title.

The approach has worked for Childers and Harvick, who captured the 2014 Cup championship in their first year together.

And per a recent tweet from Childers, who was the first crew chief guest on the NASCAR on NBC podcast this week, it remains the philosophy for 2017.

“Unless you have that mentality, you’re not ever going to do that,” Childers said on the podcast.

After leading more than 2,000 laps in the 2014 and ’15 seasons, Harvick dropped off to 1,384 laps led in 2016 and didn’t advance to the championship round after two consecutive appearances.

Childers said it was partly because the team drifted from the philosophy.

“At the end of 2015, I thought it was the wrong thing to do,” he said. “People were looking at us too much and end up focused on you. We were (having our car inspected at the NASCAR R&D Center) too many times.”

Childers said the No. 4 team tried to pull things back by having Harvick run slower for early laps in practice.

“It ate me alive,” Childers said. “I told these guys I’m done with that. We’re going back to the same things we said and be fast all the time. I’d rather have it that way.”

The pressure already has been ratcheted up with Stewart-Haas Racing’s switch from Chevrolet to Ford.

“Everybody in our group likes a challenge,” Childers said. “For me, I get bored after a while. You go through a switch like this, it makes you excited again. It makes you work harder. Makes you go through the details again. You look at every little thing.”

During the podcast, Childers also addressed:

--Why SHR’s relationship with Hendrick Motosports had run its course;

--How he pushes Kevin Harvick’s buttons;

--His former career as a driver.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking on the AudioBoom embed below or download and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by clicking here. The free subscription will provide automatic downloads of new episodes to your smartphone. It also is available on Stitcher by clicking here and also can be found on Google Play, Spotify and a host of other smartphone apps.

https://audioboom.com/posts/5584918-ep-63-crew-chief-rodney-childers?t=0