Chad Knaus to crew chief for Byron in '19

JBone88 said:
Such impatience around here. Byron had exactly one season of Trucks, and one of Xfinity before being put in the 24 car in Cup. At age 19.

He’s raw. He needed more time in Xfinity. He took his lumps this year. Now he gets a vet like Chad on the box to square him away. The talent is there. Byron will be fine.
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I hope things go well with Byron. I really do. But I do think Chad is an acquired taste.
 
I’m not seeing this as breaking news. The 48 isn’t running well. One could only speculate why.
This may or may not be a good move for either of the involved drivers/teams.
:idunno:
 
I'd ask who gets custody of the Golden Horseshoe, but since they've lost it then there's nothing to fight over. Of course, if they hadn't lost it, they wouldn't be splitsville.
 
Byron will be just fine. When you consider his age, his lack of experience and how bad the HMS cars have been most of the season, he hasn't done that badly. DNF's not of his making have taken their toll too. He has shown speed at times and I think getting though this year and having a fresh start for 2019 will do wonders. Yes, he probably should have had another year in XFINITY, but in retrospect, it's unlikely that team would have been any better with Kasey Kahne in the car, and now that Kasey has his issues, Byron probably would have ended up in that car at least part of the time anyway. So all things considered, I'd rather have William in the car for the full season, even if he has taken his lumps. It builds character and he will go into 2019 knowing fully what to expect and what he needs to do.
 
Spotter22 said:
Blown away! Never thought I'd see this. I think this creates more problems.
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I disagree. You have two great ego's in the garage and it isn't like they haven't bickered before.
Knaus will try and prove he was the main reason for their success and Jimmy will do the same.
So now you will have everyone back working real hard to beat the others.
 
pjmolo said:
A fact "fixed" by an opinion.

Damn, I hate when that happens . . . .
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It’s a fact that the Petty/Inman team recorded more wins than the Johnson/Knauss team.
It’s also a fact that many of Petty’s wins were at Podunk County Fairs, dirt tracks, 10-car fields and fields that lacked any talented competition.
 
BobbyFord said:
It’s a fact that the Petty/Inman team recorded more wins than the Johnson/Knauss team.
It’s also a fact that many of Petty’s wins were at Podunk County Fairs, dirt tracks, 10-car fields and fields that lacked any talented competition.
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Of everyone who showed up, Petty/Inman were the best. Can’t blame their type of success on who decided not to show up to race. Just like Jimmie and Chad, they performed when it mattered.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Of everyone who showed up, Petty/Inman were the best. Can’t blame their type of success on who decided not to show up to race. Just like Jimmie and Chad, they performed when it mattered.
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Jimmie Johnson raced competitive drivers his entire career. Petty did not.
I’m not saying Petty wasn’t a great driver for his era, he just didn’t race his entire career against the level of competition that Jimmie has.
And I’m not necessarily a JJ fan.
 
BobbyFord said:
Jimmie Johnson raced competitive drivers his entire career. Petty did not.
I’m not saying Petty wasn’t a great driver for his era, he just didn’t race his entire career against the level of competition that Jimmie has.
And I’m not necessarily a JJ fan.
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Both couples raced against the best that were available to compete and won.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Both couples raced against the best that were available to compete and won.
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No. Petty raced dirt tracks at county fairs against 12 car fields. Jimmie did not. Petty did not race against top tier, factory backed competition his entire career, Jimmie has.
Statistically, Pearson was a better driver than Petty...
https://www.racing-reference.info/showblog?id=2629

Pettys wins broken down...
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.na...of-richard-pettys-nascar-wins-one-by-one/amp/

Might as well include all of Kyle Busch’s wins if this is how we are going to compare careers.

I’ve said it before, it’s impossible to fairly compare eras because there are so many factors for each that don’t apply to the other.

:cheers:
 
I frankly thought Knaus was either going to stay with Jimmie or retire.

Now he's going to be a crew chief for William Byron? Now how cool would it be if these two forge another period of Hendrick dominance? Okay, now I might be in the minority there. :p
 
Driver/crew chief chemistry is a crapshoot. Exceptional driver/crew chief chemistry is very rare.
I hope it works out for everyone not driving a Chevrolet :p
 
This must be Chad’s penance for gridding a car with a busted ball joint
 
The 48's problems started when they went to the low downforce cars. With the high downforce cars of next year, I believe the 48 would return to being more successful again. Without that partnership, I think the 48 will lose some of that edge. Byron does need a new crew chief, but I don't think it should be Knauss.
 
Byron's mind is a sponge and he'll let Knaus do just about whatever to the car while he learns from him, unlike Johnson who has done this for years. The new pairing works on paper.
 
Johnson is getting a good crew chief. Sadler's cars were always well prepared, qualified high and they got better during the race for the most part. I believe Meendering will show up with a good car.
 
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Chad will probably tell William how he should dress for social outings. William will reply with yes dad.
 
pjmolo said:
A fact "fixed" by an opinion.

Damn, I hate when that happens . . . .
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Apparently Richard and Dale Inman were supposed to stop winning races and championships, evaluate their competition at the time and if they weren’t up to snuff.... just call it a day and move on.
 
I guess what's most shocking about this to me is for the last 8 weeks or so it has looked like they've started to get it turned around and they would have likely had a great shot at contending next year. The main question I have is how much longer does Knaus plan on doing this? I was under the impression that he was nearing the end. If that's the case, giving him to Byron for a year or 2 and then making another swap doesn't seem like it would be good for William. And I do think Byron is at least another year away before he's even a thought to contend for wins.

Had Chase not won this year, it's very possible that this wouldn't have been the only CC swap. I just hope that if Knaus does step away soon that they don't take Alan away in their next experiment to try and boost Byron.
 
Pretty surprising news I honestly thought Chad and Jimmie would retire together. I really think that even though some here are ready to retire JJ, what if him and Kevin hit it off? Win some races next year, rebuild the 48 team and become championship contenders in 2020? Not so sure Jimmie would hang it up then, maybe race into his late 40’s. It’s quite an undertaking to rebuild a team that’s been a Championship team with a driver in their 40’s....they all tried it though. Gordon with Letarte and Gustafson. Earnhardt with McReynolds then Kevin Hamlin. I think of all of em Jimmie has the best chance, I hope this rejuvenates him. As for Chad, I will be excited to see how he builds another championship contender with the 24, I believe Willy B has it in him to do what Jeff and Jimmie did before him. If anything this proves Rick is really all in with Byron.
 
I noticed Jeff was having more interaction with the teams this weekend and I haven't seen Mr.H for awhile.
I am wondering if Jeff is going to be getting more involved with HMS. Lets not forget he does have some ownership in both the 24 and 48. This could be his suggestions.


PURE SPECULATION on my part.
 
hidesert cowboy said:
with that said, why wait to make the change? why not get adjusted now, none of the 2 teams are in the playoffs
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Good question. Contractual reasons of some sort, perhaps? :idunno:

I also wonder if Jimmie will stay after this season, especially if solid sponsorship doesn't materialize?
 
I'm not surprised, this team has fallen quite a bit in the last two years, both Johnson and Knaus are probably close to getting out of NASCAR in the near future. Not being a fan of either of them I do respect their accomplishments tho.
 
Team Penske said:
I noticed Jeff was having more interaction with the teams this weekend and I haven't seen Mr.H for awhile.
I am wondering if Jeff is going to be getting more involved with HMS. Lets not forget he does have some ownership in both the 24 and 48. This could be his suggestions.


PURE SPECULATION on my part.
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He definitely is going to be. They even talked about it during the post race presser Sunday. 22:00 mark.

 
good article
Jimmie Johnson will prove that he'll be fine without Chad Knaus
Jimmie Johnson has frequently said he never wanted to know whether he could win races with someone other than Chad Knaus as his crew chief.

He will find out in 2019.

And the results will be awesome.

It will be awesome to see what Johnson can do without Knaus. C'mon, everyone wants to see it. Was their success due to driver or crew chief?

http://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/s...ohnson-set-thrive-split-crew-chief-chad-knaus
 
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