Richard Childress Racing (RCR) has announced significant changes to its competition leadership structure ahead of the 2025 NASCAR season, promoting from within and adding new talent to strengthen its technical operations.

Keith Rodden, who had been serving as interim competition director, has been elevated to vice president of competition. In this expanded role, Rodden will oversee competition administration functions and lead strategic performance-based partnerships with key technology collaborators including Chevrolet, Dow, and Lenovo.

“I’m honored that Richard Childress, Torrey Galida, Mike Verlander and everyone at RCR have put their faith in me,” said Rodden. “RCR has all of the resources in place to excel in 2025 and beyond, including a robust group of partners who we have already been meeting with to help contribute to our success.”

In a significant hire, John Klausmeier joins RCR as technical director, bringing over two decades of motorsports experience. Klausmeier, who previously served as technical director at Stewart-Haas Racing and accumulated six years as a race-winning crew chief in both NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, will oversee all technical engineering activities and manage the team’s engineering and crew chief departments.

The organization also announced Richard Boswell as the new crew chief for Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet. Boswell comes to RCR fresh off his first full season as a Cup Series crew chief, where he guided Chase Briscoe to a playoff appearance and victory at Stewart-Haas Racing.

Meanwhile, Randall Burnett will continue his successful partnership with Kyle Busch, remaining as crew chief of the No. 8 Chevrolet.

Team owner Richard Childress expressed confidence in the restructured leadership team: “Keith Rodden has stepped up in the interim competition director role this past season and has shown an eagerness to help improve and fine-tune all aspects of RCR. I feel confident that all of our crew chiefs will do a great job leading their respective teams and we will give our partners, employees and fans plenty to be excited about in 2025.”

The changes mark a significant moment for the 55-year-old organization as it positions itself for future success in NASCAR’s top series. Childress also acknowledged the departure of Justin Alexander, who guided Austin Dillon to five Cup victories during their time together.