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RCR announces new crew chief for Austin Dillon for 2023

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Despite back-to-back runner-ups for Ross Chastain, Nate Ryan didn't sense a lot of confidence from the No. 1 driver despite the fact he's in the best points position possible of any remaining playoff-eligible driver.

Keith Rodden will be Austin Dillon’s crew chief in 2023, Richard Childress Racing announced Friday morning.

Rodden takes the place of Justin Alexander, who moves to the role of director of vehicle performance at RCR.

Rodden, a former crew chief and race engineer, most recently worked on the Motorsports Competition NASCAR strategy group at General Motors. Rodden’s focus there was working with Chevy teams on how to best approach track tests, practice sessions, and race events. He also worked as the General Motors wheel force test project lead, serving as test team crew chief.

He worked as either a crew chief or engineer at Hendrick Motorsports, Evernham Motorsports, Richard Petty Motorsports, Team Red Bull, and Chip Ganassi Racing. Rodden worked for more than a decade with Kasey Kahne, including as crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports.

“The addition of Keith Rodden to the Richard Childress Racing team highlights the ‘One Team’ approach to our race program and the commitment that our manufacturer partner has made to elevating all of the Chevy NASCAR teams with a shared approach to data gathering and technical development,” said Andy Petree, vice president of competition for Richard Childress Racing, in a statement.

“I’ve known and worked with Keith Rodden since the beginning of his NASCAR career, and I can confidently say that he will be a great match for Austin Dillon and our team at Richard Childress Racing. We’d like to thank Justin Alexander for his contributions to the No. 3 team and know that he will do a great job continuing to support RCR in his new role.”