Chad Knaus
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Chad Anthony Knaus (pronounced kuh-NOWSE) (born August 5, 1971 in Rockford, Illinois) is the NASCAR Sprint Cup crew chief for the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet Impala SS currently driven by Jimmie Johnson, owned by Jeff Gordon and operated by Rick Hendrick's Hendrick Motorsports.
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[edit] Background
Born in Illinois, Chad Knaus grew up around the racetracks of the Midwest helping his father race against the likes of Mark Martin, Alan Kulwicki, Rusty Wallace and Dick Trickle. By the time he was 14, Knaus served as crew chief during his father John's Rockford Speedway championship season. The father-son combination also won the Great Northern Series championship and finished second in the Winston Racing Series. A few years and seven track championships later,[1] Knaus moved to North Carolina in 1991 to pursue a job in national stock car racing.
After working with Stanley Smith's stock car team, Knaus landed a job working on the #24 Hendrick Motorsports team led by crew chief Ray Evernham and raced by driver Jeff Gordon. From 1993 to 1997, Knaus advanced from a general fabricator to manage the entire chassis and body construction program for the #24 team. Serving as a tire changer on the original Rainbow Warriors pit crew, Knaus was an integral part of the 1995 and 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship teams.
Following the 1997 season, Knaus joined Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as car chief, where he worked with Steve Park and later Darrell Waltrip. During the 1998 season, he moved to Tyler Jet Motorsports, and in 1999, the call came that would lead Knaus to Dodge, Melling Racing, and his ultimate career goal. Ray Evernham wanted Knaus to lead the Dodge Development team, an opportunity he quickly seized.
During two Dodge test sessions, Knaus worked with Melling Racing driver Stacy Compton. The two worked well together, resulting in Knaus' hire as crew chief for Compton in 2001.
[edit] NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
2001 Season
In 2001, Knaus was crew chief for Mark Melling's operation, which was sponsored by Pinkerton Tobacco, with Compton as driver.
2002 Season
In 2002, Knaus was offered the position of crew chief for a rookie driver in the Hendrick Motorsports stable, Jimmie Johnson. Knaus lead the rookie team to unprecedented success in 2002, earning 3 wins, 6 top 5s, 21 top 10s, and 4 Bud Pole Awards. Johnson became the first rookie in Cup Series history to ever lead the point standings (he eventually finished fifth overall). He also finished second in Rookie of the Year honors to Ryan Newman. As a result of these efforts, Knaus took home the inaugural IRWIN "Crew Chief of the Year" award.
2003 Season
For the 2003 campaign, the #48 team had 3 victories, 14 top 5s, and 20 top 10s. Johnson finished the season second in the points standings to Matt Kenseth.
2004 Season
In 2004, the season began slowly, with some early disappointments in weeks two and three at Rockingham and Las Vegas. However, the team quickly rebounded with a week five win at the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway. Subsequent victories at the Coca-Cola 600 and the Pocono 500 helped solidify their place in the NASCAR Chase for the Cup towards the end of the season. However, poor finishes at Talladega (37th) and Kansas (32nd) nearly stopped their chances to win the Nextel Cup, but four subsequent victories put them 18 points behind leader Kurt Busch going into the final race. The second victory at the Subway 500 in Martinsville on October 24, 2004, was marred by tragedy when Rick Hendrick's son, Ricky Hendrick, nieces and brother were killed in an airplane crash en route to the race. All eight passengers and both pilots died in the incident. The team eventually finished second in the Nextel Cup Series points, losing to Kurt Busch by just 8 points.
2005 Season
Knaus and Johnson took a step back in 2005, finishing the season ranked fifth in the standings after a crash in the season ending race at Homestead.
2006 Season
In 2006, Johnson and Knaus won their first Nextel Cup Series championship with 5 wins, 13 top 5s, and 24 top 10s.
2007 Season
2007 was the best season yet for Knaus and Johnson. The tandem took home their second straight championship with a series best 10 wins. Hendrick Motorsports was the dominant team in 2007, amassing 18 wins in 36 races, or exactly half. Knaus and Johnson led the Hendrick charge that saw the championship battle come down to a race between themselves and teammate Jeff Gordon.
Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Statistics
| Year | Driver | Races | Wins | Poles | Top 5 | Top 10 | DNFs | Season Rank | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Stacy Compton | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 33 | ||
| 2002 | Jimmie Johnson | 36 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 2003 | Jimmie Johnson | 36 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 20 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2004 | Jimmie Johnson | 36 | 8 | 1 | 20 | 23 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 2005 | Jimmie Johnson | 36 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 22 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 2006 | Jimmie Johnson | 36 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 24 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2007 | Jimmie Johnson | 36 | 10 | 4 | 20 | 24 | 4 | 1 | ||
| 2008 | Jimmie Johnson | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | ||
| Totals | 258 | 34 | 16 | 90 | 139 | 30 | ||||
[edit] Criticism
In early 2006, Knaus was accused of "cheating" after Jimmie Johnson's Daytona 500 qualifying run. Knaus made an illegal adjustment to the rear window, which resulted in his suspension from Sprint Cup events until March 22. Despite the loss of his crew chief, Johnson won the Daytona 500 with interim crew chief, Darian Grubb.
Knaus again found himself at the center of controversy during the road race debut of NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow. On June 23, 2007 the 24 crew (chiefed by Steve Letarte) and the 48 crew entered the inspection line for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway with the newest body style out of the Hendrick shop. While both cars fit the templates, NASCAR officials questioned the shape of the fenders in between the template points.[1] Johnson was not allowed to qualify the car, and he started at the back of the field. Knaus was fined $100,000 and was suspended for six races.[2]
[edit] #48 Pit Crew
The following are the #48 "over the wall" crew:
- Chris Anderson (Jack Man)
- David Bryant (Windshield/Driver Support)
- Mike Knauer (Catch Can)
- Tim Ladyga (Rear Tire Changer)
- Ron Malec (Rear Tire Carrier/Car Chief)
- Shane Parsnow (Front Tire Changer)
- Jim Pollard (Gas Man)
- Arthur Simmons (Front Tire Carrier)
[edit] Outside activities
Knaus is a regular commentator on NASCAR Performance, a program that broadcasts from each track every week. Each program provides a crew chief perspective on the hot topics in NASCAR, as well as a preview of the weekend's race. Knaus is joined by Bootie Barker of Haas CNC Racing, a weekly special guest, and the program is anchored by Fox broadcaster Larry McReynolds.
Knaus has also appeared in a television commercial for Kobalt Tools by Lowe's, a sponsor of the #48 car, asking driver Jimmie Johnson (who is working on a street clock), "What are you doing?" This comes after a montage of Johnson performing an assortment of repair projects with Kobalt Tools, and precedes Johnson's reply of, "Welding, Chad."
[edit] References
- ^ "Rockford Speedway is a "NASCAR home track"; Kevin Ramsell; March 6, 2007; Retrieved October 22, 2007
- ^ "Gordon, Johnson fail initial qual inspection at Sonoma", June 22, 2007, David Caraviello, Retrieved Sept 7 2007
[edit] External links
- The Official Chad Knaus Website
- Team Lowe's Racing
- Hendrick Motorsports
- NASCAR
- NASCAR Performance
- Cheesin' Chadwick (Fan Site)
| Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Sprint Cup drivers | Casey Mears (#5) | Jeff Gordon (#24) | Jimmie Johnson (#48) | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (#88) |
| Driver development program (under JR Motorsports) |
Landon Cassill | Brad Keselowski | Curtis Truex |
| Partnerships and affiliations | Furniture Row Racing | Haas CNC Racing | JR Motorsports | Phoenix Racing |
| Sprint Cup crew chiefs | Alan Gustafson (#5) | Steve Letarte (#24) | Chad Knaus (#48) | Tony Eury, Jr. (#88) |
| Other | Rick Hendrick | Ricky Hendrick | Darian Grubb | Brian Whitesell |
