Hendrick Motorsports' Chad Knaus excited for Sprint Pit Crew Challenge
Hendrick Motorsports' Chad Knaus works as the crew chief on Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
Chad Knaus has been on the crewman side of the car throughout his NASCAR Cup career, so he's pleased to see something come along each season where crew members can shine on their own, and tonight's NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge gives them a chance to do just that.
Knaus has risen through the ranks, from a tire changer on Jeff Gordon's so-called Rainbow Warriors crew to become a three-time defending series' champion as crew chief for Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson, so he understands how important recognition is to the men pitting those 3,400-pound cars week to week.
Those crews have been particularly important this season, where races have clearly been both won and lost on pit stops. With several teams having issues with lug nuts staying on tires during stops this season, a number of drivers have watched race-winning performances dissolve in a matter of seconds as they forfeited multiple positions on pit road.
Knaus understands as well as anyone the pressure those over-the-wall crew members are feeling. He was a tire changer on Gordon's 1995 and '97 championship-winning teams. He began his career as a crew chief in 2000 with Melling Racing and driver Stacy Compton before returning to Hendrick in 2002 to work as Johnson's crew chief.
Over the years, he has seen a fair amount of change in the way crew members are treated and recognized.
"You look at some of the pit stops we've had this year, not we personally with the [No.] 48 [team], but I'm talking we as an industry, there have been race-deciding pit stops to where it has taken teams out of a race," Knaus said. "That's a lot of pressure on those guys. You know, it's not like it used to be. Used to be they would say, 'Oh, the 48 had a bad pit stop,' or 'The 2 car [of Kurt Busch] had a bad pit stop.' Now they're calling these guys out by name.
"The rear tire changer so-and-so had a bad pit stop, they put his face on camera. It's something new for these guys, and it's very difficult for them."
To that end, Knaus thinks events such as the pit crew competition provide a boost.
"I think it's a big deal, it really is," Knaus said. "I think the emphasis that these people put on the individual position competition is pretty high. Our guys have been working on it. They keep it in the backs of their minds throughout the whole year long, trying to think of how they improve and do a better job in that competition, whether it be from the push standpoint, where the team goes down to push the car, and how they fall in, get into position to get the car rolling as fast as possible, to when they're fuelling the cars or changing the tires in the individual competition. It's in the backs of their minds.
"They'll be practicing a week midsummer for the pit-crew competition. They're always aware of it, and I think it's a great thing. I was real fortunate back in the mid-'90s to be able to be a part of the competition that we had at Rockingham [N.C.]. It was a cool thing to do then, but it was just kind of like a round-robin type competition where you were eliminated. If you didn't have the fastest pit stop, you were pretty much out."
And the focus on the individual just adds to the enjoyment - and the sense of pride - Knaus says. While that is another source of pressure on the crews, it's a little different vying to be the best at one's position as opposed to being singled out on television for a problem.
So while pitting a car, or even winning a race, is a team effort, it is clear that recognizing the individual contributions of those team members is something the veteran Knaus believes is important.
"That narrows it down and puts the pressure on the guy," Knaus said of the individual honors. "I think every guy that's on a pit crew to some degree wants to be the guy. He's always the guy that said, 'Throw me the ball, let me make it happen and make myself responsible for what's going to happen.' If he can make it happen, then good for him. That's kind of what this is about, and it's good for them because it's easy for everybody to say we've won the race because of Jimmie Johnson, [team owner] Rick Hendrick or myself. But the fact of the matter is it takes every single one of us to do our jobs to the best of our ability in order to pull it off.
"They don't always get the accolades they truly deserve."
