Francis becomes Hendrick technical director, Rodden to crew chief for Kahne
Kenny Francis will be moving to a different role at Hendrick Motorsports, paving the way for Keith Rodden to become Kasey Kahne's crew chief in 2015.
The team announced that Francis would become its technical director, a new position within the organization. Rodden, a former engineer on the No. 5 team, served as Jamie McMurray's crew chief in 2014.
“This is a great opportunity for both guys, and it will strengthen our overall organization,” Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick said in a statement. “With the new rules for next year, it’s more important than ever to have a strong vehicle development program. Unifying those efforts for the first time under Kenny’s guidance will be critical to our success. It plays to his experience as a leader, innovative engineer and race-winning crew chief. He’s just tailor-made for it."
Francis was Kahne's crew chief in 2014 and has been his crew chief since the final race of the 2005 season. 16 of Kahne's 17 career wins have come with Francis atop the pit box, and the two have been together as Kahne's driven the No. 9, No. 4 and No. 5 cars for Evernham/Richard Petty Motorsports, Red Bull Racing and Hendrick.
However, Kahne was the slowest and most inconsistent member of Hendrick Motorsports in 2014. While he won at Atlanta to make the Chase, he had just three top fives and 11 top 10s. He was eliminated from the Chase in the second round.
Rodden left the team to crew chief McMurray in 2014 after serving as Kahne's lead engineer for two seasons. Together, the two won the Sprint All-Star Race in May, though since it's not a points race, the win didn't get McMurray into the Chase. And while Kahne made the Chase, McMurray had more top fives (seven), top 10s (13) and laps led (368 to 218).
McMurray's new crew chief will be Matt McCall, another former team engineer. McCall spent 2014 as the lead engineer on Ryan Newman's team. Newman finished second to Kevin Harvick at Homestead and second in the Chase.
“We are very pleased to add a crew chief like Matt to what we feel is a team and program that is certainly on the rise and feel that he can take it to the next level," Chip Ganassi said in a statement. "Matt brings a lot to the table that we are thrilled to have. He has been a successful race engineer for the No. 31 team and has the added experience of being a driver, which we feel will add to his success in leading the No. 1 team. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will mesh very well with Jamie and the whole team."
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
