On Wednesday, Richard Childress Racing publicly announced the promotion of several key figures within its organization, which the team feels will strengthen the organization’s operations.
Andy Petree, who had been serving as RCR’s Vice President of Competition, has been elevated to Executive Vice President of Richard Childress Racing.
Petree is a 35-year veteran in the industry, who scored two NASCAR Cup Series championships with RCR as the crew chief for Dale Earnhardt in 1993 and 1994. Following his stint as the crew chief for Earnhardt, Petree left RCR and became a car owner in the NASCAR Cup Series himself for a while.
Petree came back to RCR in 2017, where he served as VP of Competition. With Petree in that role, RCR collected 23 race wins in the NASCAR National Series ranks, including nine in the NASCAR Cup Series. Petree also played a part in RCR’s 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.
With Petree moving up, the organization also announced the promotion of two additional members of the team.
Justin Alexander, a four-time NASCAR Cup Series race-winning crew chief with RCR, will now serve as the Competition Director for Richard Childress Racing.
In 2023, Alexander served as the Director of Vehicle Performance for the team. Now, he’ll supervise all competition-related departments within the organization.
Eric Kominek will take over the role of Technical Director for the race team. Kominek will oversee all technical engineering activities for the organization, and according to a press release from RCR, Kominek will focus his energies on vehicle systems engineering, design, and metrology.
Additionally, Kominek will assume the role of technical director for RCR’s NASCAR Xfinity Series teams.
Richard Childress is high on Alexander and Kominek and says Petree has been a loyal and key figure within his race team for years, and feels his experience makes him the perfect person to take on the responsibilities of Executive Vice President.
“Andy Petree has been around racing his entire life in various roles and titles, from race car driver to car owner to two-time championship-winning crew chief for Dale Earnhardt, not to mention his contributions to motorsports through his work as a TV analyst for NASCAR Race Hub on FOX,” said Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of Richard Childress Racing. “That experience and loyalty to RCR makes him the perfect choice to take on a larger role at RCR that transcends the competition side of our business. At the same time, Justin Alexander and Eric Kominek are both extremely talented engineers who are proven in their ability to lead and are going to be valuable in their respective competition-focused positions.”
Richard Childress Racing collected three NASCAR Cup Series wins during the 2023 season, all with Kyle Busch behind the wheel. Busch finished 14th in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Austin Dillon had a frustrating season overall as he endured 10 DNFs, and scored just one top-five finish on the year. However, Dillon began to find his groove toward the end of the year, and there is hope that momentum was built for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
