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

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

crew chief who works 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 C ...

in an administrative role. He previously served as a crew chief for RCR on

Austin Dillon Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet ZL1 and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet ...

's No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

. He also previously crew chiefed 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 competing in the NTT IndyCar Series. They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Global Rally ...

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'' and CW. He raced in the NASCAR Cup Series on a full-time basis from 2003 ...

's No. 1 car in 2014 and then for

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports 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 316 Cup Series ra ...

Kasey Kahne Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American professional dirt track racing and stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet SS for Richard Childress Racing. Currently, K ...

's No. 5 car from 2015 to 2017 and also worked for

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

in their motorsports division.

Racing career

A native of

Denver, North Carolina Denver, formerly known as Dry Pond, is a census-designated place and Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Lincoln County, North Carolina, Lincoln County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census ...

, and a graduate of

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

, 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. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

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 in ...

, Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Richard Petty Motorsports,

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing and also known simply as Red Bull or RBR, is a Formula One racing team, List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationality, competing under an Austrian racing licence and based in ...

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 Kyle Larson, the 2014 NASCAR Rookie of the Year. file:Jimmie Johnson Dale Earnhardt Jr. cars at Hendrick Engines 2014.jpg"> List_of_NASCAR_Manufacturers%27_champions">Manufacturer's championship with 20 wins & 1572 points, their 13th champi ...

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

's No. 5 Chevrolet starting in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. Working with

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

Darian Grubb Darian Kent Grubb (born October 9, 1975) is an American NASCAR mechanic, engineer, and Crew chief (auto racing), crew chief who is currently employed at Trackhouse Racing as the Director of Performance and the crew chief of the team's part-time N ...

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 NA ...

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 General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

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. Following the 2023 NOCO 400 at Martinsville, the No. 3 was served an L1 penalty after NASCAR's R&D Center discovered an unapproved underwing assembly during post-inspection. As a result, the team was docked 60 driver and owner points and five playoff points. In addition, Rodden was fined 75,000 and suspended for two races. After a disappointing 2023 season that resulted in Dillon not winning any races, missing the playoffs and finishing 29th in the final standings (the worst points finish in all his years running full-time in the Cup Series) and the start of the 2024 season not going much better, RCR moved Justin Alexander back into the crew chief position for Dillon and the No. 3 team on April 2, 2024. Rodden was moved into a different job overseeing the entire organization's teams, similar to Alexander's previous position as competition director (which he was promoted to in November 2023), although a specific job title for Rodden was not publicly announced. On April 5, 2024, It was announced that Rodden will crew chief the No. 33 car which is being driven by Austin Hill.

References

External links

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