Andy Petree Named Executive Vice President of RCR; Team Makes Key Leadership Promotions
Andy Petree has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Richard Childress Racing. Justin Alexander and Eric Kominek will also serve in competition leadership positions.
On Tuesday, Richard Childress Racing confirmed the promotion of three important members of the championship-caliber organization's leadership team, in an attempt to further strengthen the team's operations moving forward.
Andy Petree has been promoted to executive vice president of Richard Childress Racing, where he'll now play a larger role in all aspects of the 55-year-old race team. A 35-year veteran in the motorsports space, Petree was promoted from his previous position as vice president of competition for RCR.
In that role, Petree guided the organization to 23 total victories (nine in the NASCAR Cup Series and 14 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series), while also aiding the team in collecting the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series title with driver Tyler Reddick. During that period, Richard Childress Racing also collected seven Playoff berths in the NASCAR Cup Series.
While Petree's responsibilities will transition into a more macro-level oversight of the team, a pair of long-time Richard Childress Racing employees with strong engineering backgrounds will take on enhanced roles within the competition team.
Justin Alexander, previously a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief for Austin Dillon, will take on the role of competition director, while Eric Kominek will continue to add value to the organization in a reimagined technical director role.
“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.”
Alexander will supervise all competition-related departments, providing leadership, coordination, and support, while also continuing to utilize his two decades of motorsports experience to maximize the capabilities of Richard Childress Racing's entries. Most recently, Alexander served as director of vehicle performance for the organization.
Kominek will continue to drive value for Richard Childress Racing as the team's technical director, overseeing all technical engineering activities for the high-performance motorsports team and focusing his energies on vehicle systems engineering, design, and metrology. Additionally, Kominek will observe the role of technical director for the team's NASCAR Xfinity Series program.
Image Courtesy of Craig White, Racing America