Car owner Rick Hendrick perfectly matched Chad Knaus (above) and Jimmie Johnson three years ago. Knaus, one of the original "Rainbow Warrior" crew members for Jeff Gordon's team in the 1990s, was a rookie crew chief, and Johnson was a rookie driver.
Going into this week's race at New Hampshire, their team leads the Nextel Cup points standings. Knaus took time earlier this week to share his thoughts on the points race, his driver and his team.
Question: How does leading the points and being in this good position affect your team over the next eight or nine races?
Knaus: I think it's pretty comforting. We're sitting in a pretty comfortable position right now. We have a small lead over second place and we're solidly in the top 10. We'd have to have a lot of things go wrong for us to fall out of the top 10. It's 'freebie' test time as far as I'm concerned. We're going to be able to try some different things. We're going to try some shock packages, some spring packages, some aero packages. We're going to work on a lot of different things to try to make sure that when we get to the final 10 races that we're prepared to win the race and win the championship. We can actually use the races themselves as tests.
Question: As a crew chief, have you seen Jimmie develop into the type of driver who 'gets it' now as a veteran like Jeff Gordon would?
Knaus: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Jimmie has always understood racing very well. What Jeff was really leading to was the draft. Jimmie's drafting capabilities. ... He's always been good at it, but now he's starting to get the respect from the other guys. They help him; they allow him to help them. He understands the pushes, the pulls, what happens when you get up next to somebody, what happens when you get in the middle. He really understands it and everybody else around knows that he gets it. It makes it a lot easier to race at the superspeedways when you know that you're going to get some help. It works out well.
Question: Do you see him walking around with a load of confidence now because of it?
Knaus: Any time you're successful in anything you do you're going to be more and more confident when you roll in there. Confidence is a big thing in motorsports. Just like when a batter is on a hitting streak, he knows when he walks up to the plate he's going to connect and get a hit. That is a good thing when you're walking up there. If you're walking up there and you're in a slump or you're somebody who hasn't won in a bunch of races, you're like, 'Man, I have no chance in heck of hitting this ball or winning this race.' You're beaten before you even get there. Jimmie has been pretty fortunate that he's always had confidence in the equipment. Now he's really truly developed a confidence in his own ability.
Question: There is a fine line between a team being cocky and a crew chief who wants his team to exude confidence. Where is your team in that regard?
Knaus: A bunch of my guys are awfully confident, as you would say. Confidence is great; cockiness isn't. I believe if you go out there and do your job and you're confident in your job, you deserve to walk with your chest puffed up and your head held high. I think that's part of something you earn, and I want people on this team to feel very comfortable in doing their job. When they set out to do their job, I want them to feel that they are the best out there and that nobody can beat them. That's just an air of confidence, something you develop, and I like that. Now if you're somebody that goes out there and you try to walk with all the confidence in the world and you can't get the job done, that's just cocky and not too smart. I don't like that. We definitely try to keep ourselves humble. When we win a race, we know that it's not because of a tire changer or a crew chief or the driver. It's because of the team. When you associate yourself with the team and not just with an individual, that's how you stay humble.
NEW ENGLAND 300
(RACE NO. 19 OF 36)
WHERE: New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, N.H.
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
TRACK DIMENSIONS: One-mile oval with 12-degree banking in the corners
BROADCAST: Television - TNT at 1:30 p.m.; Radio - Motor Racing Network at 1:30 p.m.
LAST YEAR'S WINNER: Jimmie Johnson
NEXTEL CUP SERIES
DRIVER POINTS
1. JIMMIE JOHNSON2,720
2. DALE EARNHARDT JR.2,615
3. JEFF GORDON2,478
4. TONY STEWART2,393
5. MATT KENSETH2,321
6. BOBBY LABONTE2,278
7. ELLIOTT SADLER2,252
8. KEVIN HARVICK2,229
9. KURT BUSCH2,211
10. RYAN NEWMAN2,173
11. JEREMY MAYFIELD2,108
12. DALE JARRETT2,083
13. JAMIE MCMURRAY2,068
14. KASEY KAHNE2,044
15. MARK MARTIN2,035
DRIVERWINNINGS
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.$4,334,630
2. Matt Kenseth3,980,720
3. Tony Stewart3,824,100
4. Jeff Gordon3,560,480
5. Jimmie Johnson3,105,660
6. Elliott Sadler2,732,920
7. Ryan Newman2,700,690
8. Kevin Harvick2,693,510
9. Kasey Kahne2,536,120
10. Bobby Labonte2,530,860
11. Dale Jarrett2,427,430
12. Rusty Wallace2,415,950
13. Michael Waltrip2,334,650
14. Scott Wimmer2,235,080
15. Sterling Marlin2,175,760
DATE RACE WINNER/TRACK
FEB. 15Daytona 500 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
FEB. 22Subway 400 Matt Kenseth
MARCH 7UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Matt Kenseth
MARCH 14Golden Corral 500 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
MARCH 21Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 Jimmie Johnson
MARCH 28Food City 500Kurt Busch
APRIL 4Samsung/RadioShack 500 Elliot Sadler
APRIL 18Advance Auto Parts 500 Rusty Wallace
APRIL 25Aaron's 499Jeff Gordon
MAY 2Auto Club 500Jeff Gordon
MAY 15Chevrolet American Revolution 400 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
MAY 22NASCAR Nextel All-Star ChallengeMatt Kenseth
MAY 30Coca-Cola 600Jimmie Johnson
JUNE 6MBNA America 400Mark Martin
JUNE 13Pocono 500Jimmie Johnson
JUNE 20DHL 400Ryan Newman
JUNE 27Dodge/Save Mart 350Jeff Gordon
JULY 3Pepsi 400Jeff Gordon
JULY 11Tropicana 400Tony Stewart
DATE RACE WINNER/TRACK
JULY 25New England 300 Loudon, N.H. (TNT)
AUG. 1Pennsylvania 500Long Pond, Pa. (TNT)
AUG. 8Brickyard 400Indianapolis (NBC)
AUG. 15Sirius at the GlenWatkins Glen, N.Y. (TNT)
AUG. 22GFS Marketplace 400Brooklyn, Mich. (TNT)
AUG. 28Sharpie 500Bristol, Tenn. (TNT)
SEPT. 5Pop Secret 500Fontana, Calif. (NBC)
SEPT. 11Chevy Monte Carlo 400Richmond, Va. (TNT)
SEPT. 19Sylvania 300Loudon, N.H. (TNT)
SEPT. 26MBNA America 400Dover, Del. (TNT)
OCT. 3EASports 500Talladega, Ala. (NBC)
OCT. 10Banquet 400Kansas City, Kan. (NBC)
OCT. 16UAW-GM Quality 500Concord, N.C. (NBC)
OCT. 24Subway 500Martinsville, Va. (NBC)
OCT. 31Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500Atlanta (NBC)
NOV. 7Checker Auto Parts 500Phoenix (NBC)
NOV. 14Mountain Dew Southern 500 Darlington, S.C. (NBC)
NOV. 21Ford 400Homestead, Fla. (NBC)
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