Chad Knaus says rare vacation nice, but not life-changing
Chad Knaus (left) says that while he enjoyed his recent trip to South Africa, the five-time champion crew chief is looking forward to getting back to work with driver Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team. // Dale Mattila, NASCAR Illustrated
It wasn’t the first time Chad Knaus needed a break. But it might have been the first time a vacation was his idea.
“I had nothing to do with it,” a grinning team owner Rick Hendrick said of his crew chief’s offseason trip to South Africa last month.
The workaholic Knaus, who guided driver Jimmie Johnson to five consecutive Sprint Cup titles from 2006 through 2010, hasn’t let his thoughts stray too far from the race track, or the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team, since becoming Johnson’s crew chief in 2002.
That narrow, single-minded focus has been a big reason for the team’s success, and likely one of the reasons for Knaus’ inability to step away.
And he warns that while the trip was eye-opening, it wasn’t as if he completely forgot about racing and his duties while he was away.
“I’m not going to say taking a trip re-energized me and I found some golden orb down there that made it all worthwhile,” Knaus said. “That’s not how it worked. But I will tell you that being able to unplug a little bit helps; it helps the mind.
“I’m not super familiar with that aspect of life clearly, but I definitely enjoyed it. Came back and was ready to go. I think it’s going to be a great season for us.”
Hendrick, who has on at least one occasion sat Knaus down and requested that he begin delegating more authority throughout his No. 48 team, said he was surprised by the news that Knaus was going out of the country.
“We told Chad a couple of times that you can’t be on the chip all the time,” he said. “If you run as hard as you can run and never take a breath, you’re going to burn out. One day you will just walk out and say ‘I’m done.’
“You need to get away and enjoy yourself, get refreshed and come back. I see, instead of him being so wound up ... he’s walking in here telling me, ‘I need to go to South Africa and I need to see the animals,’ and I thought, ‘Where’s the real Chad Knaus? This isn’t him.’”
That the trip fell during a time when teams were heading to Daytona for preseason testing might have seemed unusual, but as Knaus noted, “I had good cell [phone] service.”
Hendrick said Knaus finally deciding to take a break is a sign of “maturity and leadership.”
“You know, it’s not life-threatening if you’ve won five [championships] and you lost one,” said Hendrick, who has won 10 as a team owner. “It’s not the end of the world; a lot of guys are never going to win one.
“I think what he has realized is that there’s a lot to life and, ‘I can do all that and come back and I’ll be better to my people, I’ll be a better guy to be around, I’ll be a better teammate.’”
So how does his driver feel about it? Johnson, it seems, isn’t buying it.
“I know come, what’s the second race of the year? What is it this year, Phoenix? He’ll show up at Phoenix. The old Chad will be back,” Johnson said, laughing.
“Daytona will be ... it’s a different race, different factors.
“That’s the thing about working with him for 10 years – we are who we are. I know him; I know how intense he is. I know at times he can get under my skin and it’s my responsibility to no let that happen; it’s my responsibility to not let it affect the race team.
“I certainly hope that this calm, relaxed Chad is the guy we’re going to see all year long, but I’ve got to chalk up 10 years of experience versus two weeks of vacation – and put the weight on the 10 years side.”
