CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There have been again and again following Jimmie Johnson’s 83 profession NASCAR wins when, trophy in hand and post-race obligations complete, his pending celebration can be immediately soured by the person who guided him to victory lane.
Chad Knaus desired to extract probably the most out of Johnson on a regular basis, and even after a win, the crew chief could still find areas of improvement.
“There have been again and again once we were within the media center, collecting the trophy, and we leave there and as soon because the door was shut, Chad is like ‘Hey man, that second stint? What happened on that restart? What about this? We gotta tighten it up!’” Johnson told The Associated Press. “And I’d be like ”Give me until tomorrow, OK? We’re leaving with the trophy. Tomorrow you’ll be able to give me (crap), right away? Don’t.”
The push and pull between driver and crew chief worked for a record-tying seven Cup championships including an unprecedented five consecutive titles. Johnson drove the Knaus-built No. 48 Chevrolet to 2 Daytona 500 victories, 4 wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, six at Johnson’s home track in California, seven at Texas, eight at Charlotte, nine at Martinsville and 11 at Dover.
They were an unstoppable duo and can fittingly be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame together on Friday night. Each are first ballot inductees and shall be celebrated with Donnie Allison, an original member of the “Alabama Gang,” who’s joining his brother, Bobby, within the Hall.
Allison, winner of 10 profession Cup races, was voted in on the Pioneer ballot. Janet Guthrie, the primary woman to race in each the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500, is being inducted because the Landmark Award winner for contributions to NASCAR.
Allison and Knaus last October hung out at Charlotte Motor Speedway reminiscing about their careers. Knaus is now the vp of competition for Hendrick Motorsports, where he and Johnson teamed for 81 of Johnson’s 83 victories; Knaus was suspended for 2 of Johnson’s wins, including a Daytona 500 victory.
Although Knaus has mellowed in his recent role — married with two young children — he denied himself much of a private life at the peak of the 48 team’s success. Considered one of the memories he shared sitting alongside Allison was a 2009 weekend of total domination by Johnson at Charlotte.
“Considered one of the things that we all the time strove for was to be fastest in all of the practice sessions, fastest in qualifying, after which to go win the race. That might be an ideal weekend,” Knaus said. “And we did it. I kept all those time sheets from that weekend, which was really cool. Just had the No. 48 on top of each NASCAR print off sheet, which was really special.”
That is how Knaus was wired and it worked with Johnson, a laid-back Californian from a blue-collar family who scrapped his option to North Carolina and eventually a seat driving for Rick Hendrick within the Cup Series. Johnson landed the job by sitting down next to Jeff Gordon at a driver meeting and selling himself to the four-time champion, who convinced Hendrick to rent Johnson ahead of the 2002 season.
Hendrick paired him with Knaus, an original member of Gordon’s “Rainbow Warrior” pit crew who had left the organization to pursue a crew chief job. When he returned, Hendrick tasked him with constructing a team around Johnson.
Knaus badly desired to win and got Johnson to his first victory lane of their thirteenth race together.
“I do know needless to say there is no such thing as a one who brought more out of me than Chad. The accountability. How he would push me. After all we butted heads at times, but he believed in me and knew find out how to bring one of the best out of me,” Johnson said. “Once I was near getting something right and a variety of scenarios I used to be in, I’d be like, ”OK, that works.’ And Chad would say ‘No. You’ll be able to do higher. I can see it. We’ve got to be perfect in all places.’
“He spent a variety of time ensuring you possibly can go from good to great, and I feel a variety of other experiences I had, I felt that good works and I could move on,” Johnson said. “Chad was really good at finding those final percentage points in all areas.”
The connection was sometimes strained and Hendrick once sat them down over a plate of cookies and milk, scolding them for behaving like children while threatening to separate the duo. It wasn’t until 2019, after their first winless season together, that Hendrick made a change. Johnson worked with two more crew chiefs in his final two seasons of full-time NASCAR competition and semi-retired at the tip of 2020 after three winless seasons.
Johnson then tried IndyCar for 2 years and even lived out his childhood dream in racing within the Indianapolis 500. He’s now the co-owner of Legacy Motor Club, where he joined his drivers last 12 months in three NASCAR races while also starring within the Knaus-led “Garage 56” project that took a Cup automotive to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
This week, Johnson announced he’ll race within the season-opening Daytona 500, in addition to the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis and the season-finale at Phoenix. He anticipates running about nine races for Legacy, but has left June open on his calendar in hopes of a return to Le Mans.
Johnson, his wife and two daughters are currently living in London and fulfilling a longtime desire to offer their children the experience of living abroad. The move got here at a critical time for the family as they relocated shortly after Johnson’s in-laws and nephew died in a double murder-suicide just weeks after his celebratory time at Le Mans.
The change of scenery has been cathartic for all the family, and so they spend an excellent deal of time with racers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon when all are in England.
“We’re nearly as good as we will be. The vacations were tough and it’s just an ongoing means of getting stronger. Good days, bad days, good weeks, bad weeks. Just still deeply grieving,” Johnson said.
His family was not with him when he was announced as a Hall of Fame inductee in August, and Johnson didn’t indicate in the event that they can be at Friday night’s ceremony.
He spent the previous few weeks reflecting on his profession and the individuals who helped him tie Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with seven Cup titles. His 83 profession wins are tied with Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough for sixth all-time.
Johnson said he doesn’t have the words to specific his gratitude toward Hendrick, who gave him his big shot in NASCAR, and the way fitting it’s that he and Knaus shall be inducted in the identical class.
“We did this all together, so I’m so comfortable we get to go in together,” Johnson said. “I feel for he and I, it’s really special. Possibly others think we should always have been staggered. But for us and our Hendrick family, we get a likelihood to have a good time and have closure to my experience throughout the Hendrick family. We actually see this as a really special opportunity.”
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This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
