Optimism bodes well for Hendrick Motorsports' Chad Knaus
Success in racing can come from a variety of skills. Management of both people and time, of parts and pieces and a race that sometimes goes haywire are crucial to becoming a champion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup ranks.
Perhaps no one understands this as well as Hendrick Motorsports’ Chad Knaus, the only crew chief to lead a team to three consecutive titles. It has certainly helped that he has Jimmie Johnson behind the wheel.
Johnson is a driving talent, a competitor who puts in extra hours studying tape and the sport in an effort to continually get better. Knaus is a special blend of psychologist, engineer, mathematician, coach, cheerleader and perhaps optimist as well.
Together, they’ve won the three titles and 41 Cup races. They’re crafting a relationship and a team that will be studied by others who try to follow in their footsteps.
Perhaps their greatest asset is the mutual respect and admiration they have for one another.
It's clear they can combine these attributes to win championships. What is perhaps more amazing is how they do so on a race-to-race basis. When things aren't going according to plan, this team manages time and again to shift the plan during a race and make it work for them. Events where Johnson seems to have no clue as to why his car is struggling, when things that Knaus expected to work have failed to do so, they change. They continue to work on the car or gamble on pit strategy, anything that could help them gain ground.
Knaus says that his driver makes that possible.
"Obviously, having a driver of the caliber of Jimmie definitely plays into our hands, you know, being able to do stuff like that, knowing he's not going to go out there and typically wreck a race car," Knaus said. "I think it's a mindset that you have to establish going into a race or into a season, knowing that if we don't have the best race car, we've got to work on it early. That way at the end of the race we can put ourselves in position to get a top-five, top-10 or potentially even win a race. We really focus hard on trying to get our car right early and then working on getting the track position and where we need to be at the end of the race to go for the good finish."
That formula has stayed the same through great stretches and ones where the organization hasn't enjoyed its trademark success.
This season has been a bit rougher than Johnson is accustomed to. Certainly his team has gained steam as the season progressed from time to time over the years. And Johnson is fourth in the standings, certainly a solid position. But he has also had some setbacks, finishing 24th at Las Vegas and outside the top 30 in two of the last three races.
“It has been an interesting year for us,” Johnson said. “I’ve had more speeding violations [on pit road] .… We’ve had some issues on pit road, and there have been some crashes on the track. This year it has been different than others. But it’s so tough, especially when you do this for a while, to have things be consistent and always work out the same.”
Still, as he compares his seasons, he sees more positives in the opening slate this year.
“I’ll take this year, and where we’re at, over last year because we have the speed in the cars,” he said. “Last year we were organized – no mistakes. It was perfect, but [there was] no speed in the cars. And that was very, very frustrating and tough. This year we’ve got great cars, but we’ve had some other issues, and it’s just a part of being a team sport.”
Through the ups and downs, Johnson and Knaus support one another and their team. In news conferences they are quick to point out the assets of each individual involved, instead of casting blame for a setback.
Certainly finding success makes it easier to keep a team together, but it is the initial creation of that team that led it down that path.
This group truly seems to embrace the adage that a team wins and loses together.
And so far, that has helped them do much more winning than losing.
“The one thing that we're real fortunate about is our team relies on one another,” Knaus said. “As Jimmie gets into a position, losing a little bit of momentum, I think I do a good job of picking him back up, getting him focused. If I have an issue like that to where I'm starting to get drawn out or tired, the guys and Jimmie do a good job of picking me back up. I do the same for the pit crew.
“We work together to support one another as a group. That way the responsibility isn't like on one individual person. We definitely spread that about, not by design but by everybody wanting to work together and trying to achieve the same goal.”
Rea White is a writer for NASCAR Scene, which is published weekly, 46 weeks per year. Visit www.scenedaily.com for more information.
