Keith Matthew Rodden (born March 27, 1981) is an American

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

crew chief who will work for

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard ...

as the crew chief for

Austin Dillon Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver and reality TV show actor. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. ...

's No. 3

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro share ...

in the

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

starting in 2023. He currently works for

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

in their motorsports division. Rodden previously worked as a crew chief in the Cup Series for

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech ...

Jamie McMurray James Christopher McMurray (born June 3, 1976), nicknamed Jamie Mac, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and currently an analyst for ''Fox NASCAR''. He raced in the NASCAR Cup Series on a full-time basis from 2003 to 2018 b ...

's No. 1 car in 2014 and then for

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 291 Cup Seri ...

Kasey Kahne Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American dirt track racing driver and former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018, driving the No. 95 Dumont Jets/Procore, Procore ...

's No. 5 car from 2015 to 2017.

Racing career

A native of

Denver, North Carolina Denver, formerly known as Dry Pond, is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Lincoln County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 2,309. Known as “Dry Pond” until 1873, it was rena ...

, and a graduate of

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

, Rodden has worked as an engineer in the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

for

Andy Petree Racing Andy Petree Racing (APR) was a NASCAR team that won 12 races. Originally formed in 1985 as Jackson Bros. Motorsports, its ownership changed hands several times over the years, with three different owners from its beginning to its closure in 2004. ...

Gillett Evernham Motorsports Evernham Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing organization that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 2000 by former Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Ray Evernham, entering full-time competition as a t ...

Richard Petty Motorsports Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded as a result of the merger between Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM) and Petty Enterprises, with ...

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...

and

. In November 2013, Rodden was announced as the new crew chief for

's No. 1 Chevrolet, starting with the

2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series The 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 66th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 43rd modern-era Cup season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway, with the Sprint Unlimited, followed by the Da ...

season. A year later, Rodden was announced as the crew chief for

's No. 5 Chevrolet starting in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. Working with

, the two won the 2017 Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400, though Rodden was replaced by

Darian Grubb Darian K. Grubb (born October 9, 1975) is a NASCAR mechanic, engineer, and crew chief who is currently employed at Trackhouse Racing Team as the Director of Performance and the crew chief of the team's part-time No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driv ...

later in the year. In July 2020, Rodden substituted for

Chad Knaus Chad Anthony Knaus (; born August 5, 1971) is an American former NASCAR crew chief. He is currently employed at Hendrick Motorsports as the Vice President of Competition. Knaus has 81 victories as Jimmie Johnson's crew chief and is the only N ...

as crew chief for William Byron on the 24 car for the Super Start Batteries 400. Byron finished the race in 10th position while also leading 27 laps mainly due to a strategy call. Rodden would later leave Hendrick to work for

and

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

in their motorsports division as part of their NASCAR competition and strategy group. On October 28, 2022, it was announced that Rodden would return to being a crew chief in 2023 as the new crew chief for

's No. 3 car, driven by

. He replaced Justin Alexander, who would become RCR's director of vehicle performance.

References

External links

* Living people People from Denver, North Carolina NASCAR crew chiefs North Carolina State University alumni 1981 births {{NASCAR-stub