WELCOME, N.C. — Keith Rodden will be Austin Dillon‘s crew chief in 2023, Richard Childress Racing announced Friday morning.
Dillon’s current crew chief, Justin Alexander, will move into a new role as director of vehicle performance at Richard Childress Racing.
Rodden, an experienced crew chief and race engineer, most recently worked on the Motorsports Competition NASCAR strategy group at General Motors. In that role, Rodden focused on working with Chevy race teams on how to best approach track tests, practice sessions, and race events to optimize race results. He also worked as the General Motors WFT project lead, serving as test team crew chief.
Rodden’s experience as a full-time crew chief dates back to 2014 with Jamie McMurray, and three seasons with Kasey Kahne at Hendrick Motorsports.
“The addition of Keith Rodden to the Richard Childress Racing team highlights the ‘One Team’ approach to our race program and the commitment that our manufacturer partner has made to elevating all of the Chevy NASCAR teams with a shared approach to data gathering and technical development,” said Andy Petree, vice president of competition for Richard Childress Racing, in a statement.
“I’ve known and worked with Keith Rodden since the beginning of his NASCAR career, and I can confidently say that he will be a great match for Austin Dillon and our team at Richard Childress Racing. We’d like to thank Justin Alexander for his contributions to the No. 3 team and know that he will do a great job continuing to support RCR in his new role.”
“In working with Richard Childress Racing, and in particular the No. 3 team, over the years, I’ve been really impressed with their competitive nature, dedication to hard work and emphasis on partner relationships,” said Rodden. “I’m looking forward to getting back into a team crew chief role and doing so with one of the strongest teams in the Team Chevy family.”