Kevin John Meendering (born March 17, 1981) is an American

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 ...

crew chief who works 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 ...

as the crew chief of their No. 17

Chevrolet Camaro 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 sha ...

in the

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

, which is fielded part-time for

Kyle Larson Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. ...

Alex Bowman Alexander Michael Warren Bowman (born April 25, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet ZL1 f ...

and William Byron.

Racing career

2016–2018: JR Motorsports

Meendering's first crew chief job came with

JR Motorsports JR Motorsports (pronounced "Junior Motorsports") is an American professional stock car racing team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller, L. W. Miller, L.W. Miller, and Rick Hendrick. It c ...

, who he worked for from 2016 to 2018 as the crew chief of their No. 1 Chevrolet driven by

Elliott Sadler Elliott William Barnes Sadler (born April 30, 1975) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Sadler is one of 36 dr ...

in the Xfinity Series.

2019–present: Hendrick Motorsports

On October 10, 2018, it was announced that

would split up the legendary driver/crew chief pair of

Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club. Johnson has won seven Cup ch ...

and

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 ...

starting in 2019 after they had a dismal 2018 season. Meendering was announced as Johnson's new crew chief for 2019 and that Knaus would replace

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 ...

(who moved into a technical director position for HMS) as the crew chief of Hendrick's No. 24 car driven by William Byron. On July 29, 2019, following a string of disappointing finishes during the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

, Hendrick Motorsports announced that the No. 48 car's engineer, Cliff Daniels, would replace Meendering as the crew chief of the No. 48. Meendering would be moved to a different unspecified role at Hendrick after he was relieved of his crew chief job. On June 2, 2022, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Meendering would return to crew chiefing for the first time since 2019 as he would be the crew chief of the team's new part-time Xfinity Series car, the No. 17. On June 20, HMS announced that Meendering would also serve as the interim crew chief for

's No. 5 car in the Cup Series after Cliff Daniels was suspended for four races (

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Road America Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...

, Atlanta in July and

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

) due to the car losing a tire and wheel during the race at Sonoma. On March 8, 2023, Hendrick announced that Meendering would return to be the crew chief of their part-time Xfinity Series car, the No. 17, although this year he would share the job with

Greg Ives Gregory Stuart Ives (born September 13, 1979) is an American NASCAR crew chief who works for JR Motorsports as the crew chief of their No. 40 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series, which is fielded part-time for Justin Allgaier. He is als ...

, the former crew chief of their No. 48 car in the Cup Series. On March 16, Hendrick announced that Meendering would return to be the interim crew chief of their Cup Series No. 5 car as Daniels was suspended again for four races after the team's L2 penalty for illegally modified hood louvers.

Personal life

Meendering's older brother,

Jeff Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes ...

, is also a NASCAR crew chief. Jeff works for

Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization founded by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. His son, J. D. Gibbs, ran the team with him until his death in 2019. Founded in Huntersville, North Carolina, ...

in the Xfinity Series as the crew chief for their No. 18 car driven by

William Sawalich William Sawalich (born October 3, 2006) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Serie ...

. The Meendering brothers are from

Marne, Michigan Marne () is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Wright Township, Ottawa County, Michigan, Wright Township of Ottawa County, Michigan, Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Geography Marne is large and it is northwest ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meendering, Kevin Living people 1981 births People from Grand Rapids, Michigan NASCAR crew chiefs