_(cropped).jpg) Meendering atDaytona International Speedway in 2019 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Kevin John Meendering |
| Born | (1981-03-17)March 17, 1981 (age 44) Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina |
| Occupation | Crew chief |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Sport | |
| Country |  United States |
| Sport | Motor racing |
| League | NASCAR Xfinity Series |
| Team | 17.Hendrick Motorsports |
Kevin John Meendering[1] (born March 17, 1981) is an AmericanNASCAR crew chief who works forHendrick Motorsports as the crew chief of their No. 17Chevrolet Camaro in theNASCAR Xfinity Series, which is fielded part-time forKyle Larson,Alex Bowman andWilliam Byron.
Meendering's first crew chief job came withJR Motorsports, who he worked for from 2016 to 2018 as the crew chief of their No. 1 Chevrolet driven byElliott Sadler in the Xfinity Series.[2][3]
On October 10, 2018, it was announced thatHendrick Motorsports would split up the legendary driver/crew chief pair ofJimmie Johnson andChad Knaus 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 replaceDarian Grubb (who moved into a technical director position for HMS) as the crew chief of Hendrick's No. 24 car driven byWilliam Byron.[4] On July 29, 2019, following a string of disappointing finishes during the2019 season, 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.[5][6][7]
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.[8] On June 20, HMS announced that Meendering would also serve as the interim crew chief forKyle Larson's No. 5 car in the Cup Series after Cliff Daniels was suspended for four races (Nashville,Road America,Atlanta in July andNew Hampshire) due to the car losing a tire and wheel duringthe race at Sonoma.[9]
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 withGreg Ives, the former crew chief of their No. 48 car in the Cup Series.[10] 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.[11]
Meendering's older brother,Jeff, is also a NASCAR crew chief. Jeff works forJoe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series as the crew chief for their No. 18 car driven bySammy Smith. The Meendering brothers are fromMarne, Michigan.[12]