When current Hendrick Motorsports VP of Competition Chad Knaus first interviewed with Ray Evernham, crew chief of Jeff Gordon at the time, he was just a young man with a dream.
When communicating that vision to one of the most pivotal people in the history of the sport, Knaus didn’t try to conceal his ambition.
“I want your job.”
While Knaus is inexorably linked to Jimmie Johnson, having won their seven NASCAR Cup Series championships together (second only to Dale Inman with eight championships as crew chief), his career started out as a fabricator and tire change on the No. 24 team of Gordon and Evernham.
After the No. 24 won its second title in three years in 1997, Knaus left to join the burgeoning Dale Earnhardt, Inc. No. 1 team as car chief for Steve Park. Following that, he was recruited by Evernham to work on research and development for Dodge, as it was returning to NASCAR after over two decades. That helped propel him to his first crew chief role, calling the shots for Stacy Compton at Melling Racing in 2001.
Hendrick, however, ultimately became his forever home, molding the No. 48 team in his image the following season, just as Evernham did a decade earlier with the No. 24.
During the first-season pairing of Knaus and a relatively unknown commodity in Johnson in 2002, the No. 48 wasn’t just in contention for Rookie of the Year — it was also in the hunt for the championship until four races to go in their its first year, Johnson winning his first event just 10 races into the season at Auto Club Speedway.
Like his predecessor, Knaus was keen to exploit every advantage within the rule book – as well as become inspiration for a number of additional entries and chapters throughout the years. What Hall of Fame crew chief wouldn’t be worth their weight in spilled lead shot and extra fuel line if they didn’t push the rules to the breaking point? Knaus’ history with reads like a greatest hits album of fines and suspensions.
In 2004 at Dover Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. radioed his crew laughing, saying the back of the No. 48 “was sitting up in the air like a damn monster truck” after Knaus had devised some trick shocks that would get the rear quarters and spoiler up in the air for maximum downforce. No penalty there, just a rule clarification for the future
In 2006 during qualifying for the Daytona 500, smoke could be seen wafting from the rear window of the No. 48 as it went through…
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