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8 months ago

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  • Kelly Crandall

Oct 31, 2024, 03:27 PM ET

Rodney Childers hardly goes down into the basement of his North Carolina home.

The basement is where you’ll instead find his teenage twin sons, Gavin and Brody, watching television or other activities. Earlier this month, though, when Childers started going through memorabilia in his Stewart-Haas Racing office, he needed to go down there.

“I started cleaning my office out, which sucked, and when you’ve been there for 11 years and everything we’ve done as a team, that was emotional,” Childers said. “Then you’re loading the truck up and I got home, and I had the whole family carrying trophies and things down to the basement. It was like, ‘Where are we going to put this?’ When they all walked back upstairs, I started looking around and I was like, ‘This is pretty incredible.'”

Childers had to clean out his office because Stewart-Haas Racing will shut its doors in little more than a week. The 2024 NASCAR season finale at Phoenix Raceway will be the team’s last race.

Now his basement is filled with trophies, die-cast cars, champagne bottles, firesuits and more from Cup Series races he’s won as crew chief of the No. 4 car with Kevin Harvick.

“I wish I had paid the extra money to get every trophy,” Childers said. “Kevin was buying me trophies every time we won a race. Well, in 2018, we started winning so much they cut me off. Kevin got to $92,000 on trophies. Then it happened again in 2020.

“I wish I had gotten them all because 20 or 30 years from now, that’s all you’ve got is to sit around and tell stories and look at trophies. So, I wish I had them all, but it’s still a lot. We’re out of room.”

Childers and Harvick will go down as the most successful pairing in Stewart-Haas Racing’s history. The duo won the 2014 series championship — in their first year working together — and 37 races by the time Harvick retired in 2023.

Harvick wants Stewart-Haas to be remembered for its culture and what co-owner and three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart brought there. The race shop had a blue-collar, racer’s attitude, and if there was work to be done and ways to be faster, there were people who could make it happen.

“I was fortunate to be given the keys of, ‘Hey, we want you to come in here and help us figure out how to make this team run fast,'” Harvick said to ESPN. “I had a lot more input than I would have at a lot of other places because of the relationship I had with Tony and I believed in that culture they had. That’s what drew all the people who loved racing to come work there.”

What will stand out for Harvick is that those at Stewart-Haas thrived on pulling off what others thought couldn’t be done. Just look at the driver lineup through the years and the variety of personalities in one building. With the likes of Stewart, Harvick, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Danica Patrick, there were as many highlights as there was attitude.

“It was about doing the best we could with who and what we had, and pairing up whatever driver with a [crew chief] that would either tolerate or challenge that person,” Greg Zipadelli, the competitor director at Stewart-Haas, told ESPN. “Even the drivers at times didn’t always see eye to eye, but they went out and respected each other for their talent levels.”

Zipadelli has been at Stewart-Haas from the beginning. Not only has he seen it all, he played a part in making it work. Throughout the years, the organization grew from two Cup Series entries to four, and then came the Xfinity Series program that went from one car to two.

Stewart-Haas Racing has a total of 105 victories: 70 in the Cup Series and 28 in the Xfinity Series. There is also a lone ARCA Menards Series West win. Among the victories are triumphs in the four crown jewel events: the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500.

There were also six non-point event wins in the Cup Series along with 87 poles between the Cup, Xfinity and ARCA. Stewart, Harvick, and Cole Custer have won driver championships for Stewart-Haas.

“Honestly, it’s hard and depressing because over the years I feel everyone has done a good job,” Zipadelli said. “You look at the wins and championships for the amount of time we’ve been in business, I think it’s been a solid accomplishment. It’s definitely disappointing to see it all breaking up.”

Childers would like Stewart-Haas to be remembered by those in the garage for the innovation that came from the organization. He hopes there is an appreciation for the pure talent and genius that came from trying to find new ways to succeed.

In the dominant years Childers and Harvick had, the garage never caught up to what they were doing. It was simply impossible because Childers fondly recalls how the competition never knew what Stewart-Haas were doing or when they were doing it.

“We would just keep changing,” Childers said. “There was so much ingenuity, whether it was in the bodies or when we were building our own chassis.

“All those races we won in 2018 and 2020, we had what we called a front-mount-shock car where the bump-stop load was going through the front, and the brakes were on the back. What it was doing was raising the splitter up a half inch in the corner and it would lower the whole rest of the cage in the roof a half inch. Nobody else could figure it out.

“It was hard workers. It was ingenuity. It was just racers. That’s really what it was about. And having some hard-nosed drivers, too.”

The end for Stewart-Haas comes with a whimper instead of a bang. Chase Briscoe won at Darlington Raceway in early September, the team’s first victory since 2022 and what could be its last. The performance across the board for its teams has not been to the standards of what was once routine.

And as it happens in racing, there were drivers who came and went. Harvick’s retirement left a hole in the team. Stewart is happily focused on his family and NHRA drag racing. The company has lost sponsorship funding with the exit of multiple partners throughout the years.

“I thought it was really cool to see a guy come in and stick his neck out in certain areas, whether it be financially or just from a sheer time standpoint and being spread thin,” Chase Elliott said to ESPN of Stewart. “I always thought it was really cool that he went out and did that and had success with it and made it work. You hate to see them go just because the overall health of our sport wants and needs healthy race teams, and they’ve been a healthy race team. I hate to see that.

“But they’ve had a solid legacy. Anytime you have something end like that, it’s really easy to forget all the good that went on and just look at what’s happened in the past year or whatever. But I still admire their efforts to go and be what they’ve become and be a top-tier team in NASCAR. That’s a hard thing to do and they did that.”

Briscoe doesn’t want the lasting image of Stewart-Haas to be how it’s ending. The first thing he hopes is remembered is how many races the organization won.

“It’s crazy to think that a place as successful as it was, in such a short window could be in the position now where it’s closing down,” Briscoe told ESPN. “It should be remembered as this place that was really, really dominant in its time, and it’s sad to see it go. It shouldn’t be remembered for what it was the last two or three years. It should be remembered what it was in its heyday.”

There are more than 300 employees at Stewart-Haas. A majority of them are headed for new opportunities or a different chapter in life. Some will stay with co-owner Gene Haas as he begins Haas Factory Team, out of the same building, next season.

Joey Logano finds it hard to use one word or a succinct way to describe the team’s legacy, but its success and what it’s done for people in the industry easily come to mind.

“They won a lot,” Logano told ESPN. “What Tony did there, being a driver that jumped into the ownership role and was successful at it, that’s the first time it happened in a long time when he did that. And then obviously adding teams to it and all that. It was pretty impressive to see.

“It’s sad to see it go, but they also should be proud of what they achieved with their championships and the impact they made in the sport for everybody. There were a lot of jobs there and in our industry. There’s a lot of people who have really benefited having them around.”

Sunday at Martinsville Speedway and Phoenix Raceway a week later will be the swan songs for Stewart-Haas. In the end, the organization will have run 1,986 NASCAR national series races.

“We just did what we loved to do and that’s win races,” Zipadelli said. “I’m just having a really hard time getting over that it’s done and it’s kind of blown up and [we’re] moving on.”

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2025 MLB Home Run Derby: The field is set! Who is the slugger to beat?

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11 hours ago

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July 13, 2025

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2025 MLB Home Run Derby: The field is set! Who is the slugger to beat?

Jul 11, 2025, 08:19 PM ET

The 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is fast approaching — and the field is set.

Braves hometown hero Ronald Acuna Jr. became the first player to commit to the event, which will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). He was followed by MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals, Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins, Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, Brent Rooker of the Athletics and Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees.

On Friday, however, Acuna was replaced by teammate Matt Olson.

With all the entrants announced, let’s break down their chances at taking home this year’s Derby prize.

Full All-Star Game coverage: How to watch, schedule, rosters, more

2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 434 feet

Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.

Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.

2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet

Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.

Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.

2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet

Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.

Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.

2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet

Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.

Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.

2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet

Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.

Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.

2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet

Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.

Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.

2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet

Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.

Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.

2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet

Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.

Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.

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On Buxton bobblehead day, All-Star hits for cycle

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12 hours ago

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July 12, 2025

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On Buxton bobblehead day, All-Star hits for cycle

  • Associated Press

Jul 12, 2025, 05:06 PM ET

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Twins All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton admitted to feeling a little added pressure before Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was his bobblehead day, meaning the first 10,000 fans to walk through the gates at Target Field would receive a replica of Buxton doing his “Buck Truck” home run celebration.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous before the game started, just knowing it was bobblehead day,” Buxton said. “Obviously you want to come out and do something good.”

Buxton did more than something good. He became the first player to hit for the cycle at Target Field since the ballpark opened in 2010, helping ignite the Twins to a 12-4 win over the Pirates.

It was the 12th cycle in Twins history and the first since Jorge Polanco had one in 2019.

Buxton had three hits through three innings — a single in the first, a triple in the six-run second and a double in the third. After singling again in the fifth, he had one more opportunity in the bottom of the seventh.

Buxton, who will participate in next week’s Home Run Derby in Atlanta, crushed a 427-foot solo homer off Pirates reliever Andrew Heaney with two outs in the seventh to make it an 11-3 game and complete the cycle. That brought the Target Field crowd to its feet, with many fans celebrating with Buxton bobbleheads.

With his team holding a comfortable lead, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli almost took Buxton out of the game before his final at-bat, he admitted afterward. Thankfully for Baldelli — and Buxton — a few coaches reminded the skipper what was at stake.

“He was 4 for 4 at the time. But with everything going on during a game, sometimes I’ll be the one that might miss on a hitting streak or something that’s going on with a particular player,” Baldelli said. “But once they reminded me of that, he was going to stay in the game. He was going to get another at-bat, regardless of the score, and give him a chance to do something great.”

The homer was Buxton’s 21st of the season, tied for fifth most in the American League. With two runs driven in Saturday, Buxton now has 55 RBIs on the season — just one shy of his single-season high. He boasts an OPS of .921 and is 17 for 17 in stolen bases.

“It’s one of the greatest first halves I’ve ever witnessed,” Baldelli said.

Buxton was replaced in center field after the seventh inning, but not before getting a standing ovation curtain call from Twins fans. He also received a Gatorade bath courtesy of teammate Ty France, who was headed to the clubhouse before realizing that nobody had doused Buxton yet after the game.

“It’s special,” Buxton said. “To be able to come out on bobblehead day like this and have a day like this is something I won’t forget.”

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Reds’ Fraley to play through partially torn labrum

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12 hours ago

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July 12, 2025

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Reds' Fraley to play through partially torn labrum

  • Associated Press

Jul 12, 2025, 02:28 PM ET

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Reds right fielder Jake Fraley was activated from the 10-day injured list on Saturday.

He had injured his right shoulder while trying to make a diving catch June 23 against the New York Yankees.

An MRI revealed a partially torn labrum that will eventually require surgery. Fraley received a cortisone shot and will try to play through it for the rest of the season.

The Reds were 7-4 in his absence.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who hasn’t played since Noelvi Marte returned from the IL on July 4, was optioned to Triple-A Louisville.

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