Long-time RCR competition executive Andy Petree retires

Petree, 65, first joined Richard Childress Racing over 30 years in the past. He labored as a crew chief with legendary driver Dale Earnhardt, successful the 1993 and 1994 NASCAR Cup Sequence championship collectively.

Earnhardt earned 15 of his 76 Cup wins with Petree atop the pitbox. Petree later labored as the manager vp at RCR, main the group to 26 race wins and the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Sequence championship. He was additionally performed an important function in overseeing the event of the Subsequent Gen Chevrolet.

“Andy Petree has been an incredible supporter of RCR for a few years and we want him success sooner or later,” stated Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of Richard Childress Racing. “Our group gained two championships with Andy throughout his first stint at RCR, and we now have made the NASCAR Playoffs and gained races with him throughout his most up-to-date tenure. I’m grateful for his contributions to the group, management and friendship over time. Keith Rodden has massive footwear to fill as interim competitors director, however I do know his ardour for motorsports and dedication will assist drive RCR ahead throughout a key time for our group.”

Sadly, 2024 has been a dismal yr for the historic race group, which made its debut within the sport again in 1969. The group has gained six Cup titles, however none since that 1994 season with Earnhardt/Petree. 

This yr, the group is in peril of utterly lacking the playoffs for the primary time since 2019. Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet, is thirty second within the championship standings. Even two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch has struggled, at present sitting seventeenth in factors. Each drivers have gone winless, and Busch has completed thirty fifth in three of the final 4 races (because of incidents/mechanical failures). 

With Petree’s exit from the group, Keith Rodden has been appointed to the place of interim competitors director for RCR.

In a press release launched by the group they stated of Rodden’s appointment: “Rodden, a veteran crew chief and race engineer, will tackle a bigger function throughout the group to assist maximize the capabilities of RCR’s Chevys and supply management, coordination and help.”