Chad Knaus is a freaking genius

[FS Myron]

Jimmie Johnson is a great race car driver, but guess what, over half of the guys in Cup are great race car drivers. The most important differentiating factor on the No. 48 team is Chad Knaus. Love him or hate him, you have to respect the man for the intelligence he shows and the presence he is on the pit box. He never overreacts. He always has his team focused and prepared. He makes the right pit call the majority of the time. And he's always thinking outside of the box. The shock absorber idea at Dover a few years ago was brilliant. The guys is one of the most, if not the most, driven individuals in the garage, and his team is poised to match a historical accomplishment because of it. And on top of it all, he's one of the most personable people in the garage.

[Chris]

I agree on all points Myron..
When Johnson come out with a lea a couple weeks back I was sitting talking with a couple friends of mine.  They were all grousing just because Johnson was even 'close'.
I told them... "Hey guys,.. this deal is over"...
Once Johnson gets ahead... unless something happens where another car crashed him or he has a flat tire EARLY and he has a bad finish.. he's the champion AGAIN.
That bunch just don't BEAT THEMSELVES.
They are smart,.. make good moves, and plan for problems in advance.  They stay prepared and don't have to 'react' to a situation.  Chad is a very calming voice for Jimmy, and always knows what to say, and they communicate well together. 
Put this team in the chase every year.... I'd say they win it 75% of the time.  We could see the next 7 time champion using this new format.

[south jersey girl]

Jimmie, what are you doing?

Welding, Chad...

[Tyyrus]

Yep.... " Jimmy the Great " Seems he stays middle of the Pack and with 50 ta go he starts
moving to the front ! Seldom does he or Chad make bad decisions , if they do they don't panic and as stated normally ,  have a contingency plan to fall back on ! Great Teams Accomplish Great Things ! I agree I can see #48 as a 7 Time Nascar Champion , if the Team can remain intact !

[wdmickjr]

yep the crew chief is good.
so is the driver.

[DotheDew88]

yep the crew chief is good.
so is the driver.

Cool avatar. I'm looking to get a little ankle tatoo somewhere along those lines. BTW welcome to the Frontstretch!

[Busch Babe 899]

Having Jimmie pull in with 3 tires in the pit box to block Carl Edwards' exit every pit stop was poor sportsmanship IMO. Effective...even when the 99 team had a 12.6 second pit stop, they couldn't capitalize on it because Carl had to slowly turn so sharp to get around the 48 and crew....and at least once it resulted in contact with another car coming down pit lane.

Not illegal, but definitely poor sportsmanship, IMO.

[Tyyrus]

yep the crew chief is good.
so is the driver.

Yep...you got that right Newbie from Little Rock ! Welcome aboard the Forum...enjoy !

[20forLogano]

Chad is the best in the business, JJ is a great driver, the 48 team is top 3 on pit road and the HMS organization is the best.  Put all those variables together and you have a 3 time champ and look for him to find Earnhardt and Petty status before he is done.  All points stated are 100% accurate here by you folks.  The pit road thing is just another way of gaining an advantage on the field and was pre-meditated.  They wouldn't have said that on the radio for the 99 team would done something different.  another Chad thing.

[DougS]

Not illegal, but definitely poor sportsmanship, IMO.

When the championship is on the line or moving close in bonus points sportmanship will take a back seat. I remember a certain 99 bumping the 18 out of the way and the quick quote was "I'm not going to aplogize for it, I thought, if he was in that situation what would he do to me. "  There is bonus money tied to these drivers and crew members contracts some drive dirty to get the money and some drive within a grey area of sportmanship. I don't expect Carl or Jimmie to take each other out, but I would have parked that car the same way. The 99 team picked that pit stall and should have known something like that would be used to an advantage.

[DougS]

Jimmie Johnson is a great race car driver, but guess what, over half of the guys in Cup are great race car drivers. The most important differentiating factor on the No. 48 team is Chad Knaus. Love him or hate him, you have to respect the man for the intelligence he shows and the presence he is on the pit box. He never overreacts. He always has his team focused and prepared. He makes the right pit call the majority of the time. And he's always thinking outside of the box. The shock absorber idea at Dover a few years ago was brilliant. The guys is one of the most, if not the most, driven individuals in the garage, and his team is poised to match a historical accomplishment because of it. And on top of it all, he's one of the most personable people in the garage.

I remember this driver in the 90's that put NASCAR on it's ear. This driver would get cheered and boo'd, some drivers didn't respect or were jealous of his talents. He was befriended by the face of NASCAR Mr. Dale Earnhardt himself. He moved NASCAR merchandise like you wouldn't believe he won title after title and the boo's got louder. His crew chief was level headed and was such a genius that he brung a car to an open races that was 100% within the rule book but so advanced NASCAR told them never to bring that setup to a points race. After a 4th championship the crew chief wanted more, and choose to part way with his winning driver. Eventually founding his own race team as an owner. Neither have lifted a championship trophy since. They've each sniffed it, they've each had miraculous season but neither have been able to lift that trophy again.

Driver: Jeff Gordon
Crew Chief: Ray Everham

Front tire changer: Chad Knuas

I am sure that Chad has learned from watching what happened to the split between Jeff and Ray.

[Chris]

After watching todays race...
I think I'd have to toss in Bob Osborns name for freaking Genius...
Great call to stay out and stretch the mileage....

I bet BB has a smile a mile wide

[Busch Babe 899]

Thank you Chris! I was gonna say, Bob Osborne is a SMART SMART man....although I have no doubt Jack Roush had a hand in helping them calculate those fuel mileage calculations....first 2/10ths short, then never mind, we're 4 laps short, then back to 2/10ths short, conserve fuel, ALL played out on TV....and it worked!!Fortunately, witht the other guys pitting and running out of fuel, they had a 10 second lead to just let off the gas and cruise...and still had enough fuel to do some donuts. LOL

I was sure Carl was gonna end up following Jr into the pits, but in reality, what option did they have? If they HAD pitted, even for a splash of fuel, it was possible they could lose several spots and the win, AND Jimmie Johnson would gain back more points...this was really their only option to carve a good chunk of points of JJ's lead.

The Chase is ON! 

[Tyyrus]

Yep there's No I in Team ! Bob and Carl along with the Entire Roush Engineering Team (Including Jack) did a Stellar job of crunching the numbers to ensure Carl had enough to finish the Race. What a incredible call !
Two more like that and Carl may well have his 1st Championship in Cup !

P.S. I had to feel for Chad Knaus , did you see him hang his head after he shouted into Jimmy's headset to lookout while pulling down Pit Row. The Pressure certainly was on ! Great Racing and both Jimmy or Carl are
deserved Champions !   

[south jersey girl]

the next two weeks are going to be interesting