.jpg) Rodden in 2009 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Keith Matthew Rodden |
| Born | (1981-03-27)March 27, 1981 (age 43) Denver, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Sport | |
| Country | United States |
| Sport | NASCAR Cup Series |
| Team | Richard Childress Racing |
Keith Matthew Rodden (born March 27, 1981) is an Americanstock car racingcrew chief who works forRichard Childress Racing in an administrative role. He previously served as a crew chief for RCR onAustin Dillon's No. 3Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in theNASCAR Cup Series. He also previously crew chiefed in the Cup Series forChip Ganassi Racing onJamie McMurray's No. 1 car in 2014 and then forHendrick Motorsports onKasey Kahne's No. 5 car from 2015 to 2017 and also worked forChevrolet in their motorsports division.
A native ofDenver, North Carolina,[1] and a graduate ofNorth Carolina State University, Rodden has worked as an engineer in theNASCARSprint Cup Series forAndy Petree Racing,Gillett Evernham Motorsports,Richard Petty Motorsports,Red Bull Racing andHendrick Motorsports.[2]
In November 2013, Rodden was announced as the new crew chief forChip Ganassi Racing's No. 1 Chevrolet, starting with the2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.[3]
A year later, Rodden was announced as the crew chief forHendrick Motorsports's No. 5 Chevrolet starting in2015.[4] Working withKasey Kahne, the two won the2017 Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400, though Rodden was replaced byDarian Grubb later in the year.[5]
In July 2020, Rodden substituted forChad Knaus as crew chief forWilliam Byron on the 24 car for theSuper Start Batteries 400.[6] Byron finished the race in 10th position while also leading 27 laps mainly due to a strategy call.[7]
Rodden would later leave Hendrick to work forChevrolet andGeneral Motors 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 forRichard Childress Racing's No. 3 car, driven byAustin Dillon. He replaced Justin Alexander, who would become RCR's director of vehicle performance.[8]
Following the2023 NOCO 400 atMartinsville, 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 finedUS$75,000 and suspended for two races.[9]
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,[10] similar to Alexander's previous position as competition director (which he was promoted to in November 2023),[11] 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.
