Randall Burnett is the crew chief for Kyle Busch in Richard Childress Racing’s No. 8 car in NASCAR. This year, 2023, marks his fourth year with this team.
So, what makes him so awesome? Well, last year was incredible for Randall Burnett and his driver Tyler Reddick. They won multiple races and even qualified for the special end-of-year competition called the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. One of these wins was Reddick’s first-ever in NASCAR, which happened at Road America, a track where they led for the last 16 laps of the race. They also shined in Indianapolis and Texas, racking up two more wins there. By the end of the season, they had three wins, three poles, and finished in the top five ten times. Not bad, huh?
Randall Burnett History
But how did Burnett get into racing? He’s from Fenton, Missouri, and loved cars so much that he built and raced his own when he was young. Later, he moved to North Carolina to go to college at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. He studied mechanical engineering, which is super useful in racing.
After college, he joined a team called Chip Ganassi Racing. He had a lot of different jobs there, like data engineer and lead race engineer. He was part of some big wins, including the 2010 Daytona 500. In 2014, he helped rookie driver Kyle Larson achieve a great first season.
His big break came in 2016 when he became a crew chief for the first time with JTG Daugherty Racing. They did well, finishing in the top five twice and the top ten nine times. Then he moved to Richard Childress Racing and continued to climb up the ladder.
He won a championship in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Tyler Reddick in 2019. Then, in 2020, they moved to the major league, the NASCAR Cup Series, and have been doing great ever since.
Randall Burnett’s story shows that with hard work, studying, and teamwork, you can achieve your dreams in any field, even something as cool and fast-paced as NASCAR!
Drivers in NASCAR Xfinity Series
Austin Dillon
Austin Dillon drives the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing in NASCAR’s top competition, the Cup Series. He’s not new to this; it’s his 10th year in the series! Austin has two championships under his belt: one in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2011 and another in the Xfinity Series in 2013. He’s had some big wins, including famous races like the Coca-Cola 600 and the Daytona 500. Just last year, in 2022, he pulled off an exciting win at Daytona that got him into the special end-of-year competition, the NASCAR Playoffs. He finished 11th overall, tying his best ever! Although he just missed making the playoffs in 2021, he had a strong year with consistent results. And back in 2020, he won a race in Texas and made it into the playoffs again despite having to miss a race because of COVID-19.
Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch is another star in NASCAR, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for the same team as Austin Dillon. Kyle is one of the most accomplished drivers, with 60 wins in the Cup Series and two championships.He’s also an owner of his own racing team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, which holds several records in the Truck Series. Kyle has been super consistent, winning at least one race every year since his first full season in 2005!
Notably, he won the championship in 2015 even after missing 11 races due to a bad crash. He’s won some of NASCAR’s biggest races, like the Brickyard 400 and the Southern 500. Outside of racing, Kyle and his wife, Samantha, run a charity helping families with infertility issues.
Austin Hill
Austin Hill is a budding racing star! He drives the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing in NASCAR Xfinity. He won eight Truck Series races and made three Playoffs in four years before this. He was great in 2020 and won the regular season title. He lost the grand title due to two terrible races. Austin began racing at six years old and has loved it ever since. His wife Ashlyn and three children live in North Carolina.
Sheldon Creed
Meet Sheldon Creed, another super cool racer. He drives the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing, just like Austin but in the Xfinity Series too. He’s already a Truck Series champion from 2020 and has lots of other titles like ARCA Menards Series Championship in 2018. But guess what? Sheldon isn’t just about car racing; he started his sports life with BMX bikes when he was only three! He’s also a champion in truck racing called Stadium SUPER Trucks. Sheldon has a lot of wins and top finishes in different series and is now focusing on the Xfinity Series, which is pretty big. He lives in Statesville, North Carolina.
Crew Chiefs in NASCAR Xfinity Series
Randall Burnett
Randall Burnett is the main guy, or “crew chief,” for Kyle Busch’s No. 8 race car in the NASCAR Cup Series. He started working with Richard Childress Racing in 2020 and has been doing a great job. Last year, he helped Tyler Reddick win three big races and get into the Playoffs for the second year in a row! Before all this, Randall Burnett studied mechanical engineering in college and worked at another racing team called Chip Ganassi Racing for 10 years. There, he helped the team win some major races like the Daytona 500.
Randall Burnett didn’t just start as a crew chief; he worked his way up. In 2016, he got his first shot at being a crew chief with JTG Daugherty Racing. By 2019, he was winning championships in the Xfinity Series. Now, he’s making waves in the Cup Series!
Keith Rodden
Keith Rodden is another important crew chief. He’s working with Austin Dillon and his No. 3 race car. This is their first year working together. Keith used to work at General Motors, where he helped racing teams get better. He’s been around in the NASCAR world, working with big teams like Hendrick Motorsports and Chip Ganassi Racing. Just like Randall Burnett, Keith also has a mechanical engineering degree. He started his career way back in 2003.
Andy Street
Andy Street is the head guy or “crew chief” for Austin Hill, who drives the No. 21 Chevrolet car in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. They’ve been a team for two years. Last year, they won two big races and finished in the top 10 a whopping 21 times! They even got to the Playoffs, and Austin was named “Rookie of the Year.”
Before this, Andy worked with Myatt Snider and won a race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He’s been with Richard Childress Racing for 20 years, doing all sorts of jobs like designing cars. He even helped win 10 races with famous drivers Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer. Andy started racing cars when he was in high school and even won a race in 1996! He’s super smart and got his engineering degree from the University of North Carolina.
Jeff Stankiewicz
Jeff Stankiewicz is another awesome crew chief who works with driver Sheldon Creed. They drive the No. 2 Chevrolet car and have been a team since 2017. Jeff helped Sheldon win championships in both the NASCAR Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series. Last year, they finished in the top five four times and the top 10 thirteen times. Even though they missed the Playoffs, they did really well.
Jeff started in racing back in high school and worked his way up. He worked with some top teams and has been successful every step of the way. He lives in North Carolina with his wife Katie and daughter Natalie Rose.
About Richard Childress Racing: A Cool NASCAR Team
Richard Childress Racing, or RCR, is a super famous team in NASCAR, the car racing league. Founded way back in 1969, RCR is like the superhero of car racing teams. They run two teams in the big-time NASCAR Cup Series and another two in the Xfinity Series.
RCR has some amazing numbers. Theyve won 16 championships and 200 races across different NASCAR series. They’re also the winners of some of the biggest races like the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. They were even the first team to win championships in all three of NASCAR’s national series. That’s like winning the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the NBA Championship!
The team’s HQ is in Welcome, North Carolina, and it’s huge15 buildings on 52 acres! Over 350 people work there to build racing cars from scratch. They also focus on making their cars faster and better using cool tech stuff.
And guess what? They even have their own engine-making company called ECR Engines. They make super powerful engines for RCR and other Chevrolet teams. ECR is also a winner, just like RCR. Theyve got more than 200 wins in different racing series, even outside NASCAR.
Last but not least, RCR couldnt do all this without some help. Theyve got partnerships with big companies like Dow, Chevrolet, and Bass Pro Shops. These companies support RCR so they can keep racing and winning.
So, RCR is not just a racing team; they’re a big deal thats been around for a long time, winning races and setting records!
FAQs About
Q: Who has Randall Burnett worked with?
A: Randall Burnett has worked with a variety of drivers including Tyler Reddick, A.J. Allmendinger, Austin Dillon, Paul Menard, Matt Tifft, and Ben Kennedy.
Q: What role did he play at Chip Ganassi Racing?
A: Randall Burnett worked in various technical roles at Ganassi, including data acquisition engineer, lead race engineer, and lead team engineer.
Q: How many years has he been with Richard Childress Racing?
A: As of 2023, Randall Burnett has been with Richard Childress Racing for multiple years, elevating the team’s performance since joining.
Q: How did Randall start his NASCAR career?
A: Randall Burnett began his NASCAR career with Chip Ganassi Racing, where he served in multiple roles including data acquisition engineer and lead race engineer.
Q: What are some of his career highlights?
A: Randall Burnett has been instrumental in wins like the 2010 Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400. In 2019, he won the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship with driver Tyler Reddick. In 2022, he and Reddick won multiple races and poles, and made it to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the second consecutive year.
ALSO READ: Scott Graves: From Oil Industry to NASCAR Crew Chief and His Journey to Success
Our Reader’s Queries
Who is Randall Burnett?
As the crew chief for Kyle Busch and the No. 8 entry for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, Randall Burnett brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the team. With a professional tone of voice and a talent for writing in active voice and short sentences, he is able to convey complex information in a way that is easy to understand, even for a child. By utilizing uncommon terminology and focusing on originality, he is able to create content that is both engaging and informative. Without self-referencing or explaining his process, he is able to rewrite content with ease and precision.