Chad Knaus to crew chief for Byron in '19

I'm surprised by the desicion, but it could be a good call.
Johnson/Knaus are (along with Petty/Inman) the most successful driver/CC combination in NASCAR history, but I think the move could help both the #24 and the #48.
 
Kevin Meendering will learn a ton by working with a veteran like Jimmie during Jimmie's final years which will set him up well for his tenure for whomever replaces Jimmie.

William Byron will learn a ton from working with Chad.

This all bodes well for the Future of HMS.
 
It was smart to keep Chad and Jimmie together as long as possible. When you do the same job with the same people over many years, the job tends to go on auto-pilot. A change is probably good considering the results over the last year. A top team can't stay on top forever.
 
AdoubleU24 said:
He definitely is going to be. They even talked about it during the post race presser Sunday. 22:00 mark.

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Rick let it slip when he said "I want Jeff back full time, I want to retire, well maybe not just yet but you know". Not word for word but close.
 
Byron's biggest problem is experience
beantownkid10 said:
14 year veteran Kasey Kahne piloted this team to 15th in the points. I'd say 20 year old rookie William Byron finishing 22nd is hardly lost.

Not great. But lost is a bit of an exaggeration.
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one year in trucks, one year in Xfinity, and now he is in cup his third year and that is his total experience in a race car 3 years. Ok.
 
Team Penske said:
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.
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But Chad wonr try and prove that.

Since 2002 Chad has been VERY vocal about Jimmie being the reason for the success. To the point where it was jarring.

I think Chad's focus is elsewhere, and a change was needed for him

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Pat said:
I'll say this. Jeff Gordon saw something in Jimmie Johnson long before he was teamed up with Chad.
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Bingo.

Lets also look at Jimmie's 3 races without Chad.

2 wins, and a 2nd place finish.

Chad was just smart, creative, and good at getting Jimmie what he wanted. Give Jimmie what he wants, Harvick what he wants, KB he wants, and JJ wins.

I've said it before. He may have fallen off a bit, but in his prime, Jimmie was the most talented driver in NASCAR, but than Harvick, better than KB, better than Brad, etc.

The thing that JJ has over everyone else, in addition to his talent, is that he is a winner and a getter, mentally, just like Brady is, just like Jordan was. Take Truex's team now, Harvick's team now, Kyle Busch's team now, as they all are, and replace their 2006-2013 counterparts with their present selves, does anyone think Harvick and Kyle Busch would still be the two best drivers in NASCAR?

Not a chance.

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jaqua19 said:
Bingo.

Lets also look at Jimmie's 3 races without Chad.

2 wins, and a 2nd place finish.

Chad was just smart, creative, and good at getting Jimmie what he wanted. Give Jimmie what he wants, Harvick what he wants, KB he wants, and JJ wins.

I've said it before. He may have fallen off a bit, but in his prime, Jimmie was the most talented driver in NASCAR, but than Harvick, better than KB, better than Brad, etc.

The thing that JJ has over everyone else, in addition to his talent, is that he is a winner and a getter, mentally, just like Brady is, just like Jordan was. Take Truex's team now, Harvick's team now, Kyle Busch's team now, as they all are, and replace their 2006-2013 counterparts with their present selves, does anyone think Harvick and Kyle Busch would still be the two best drivers in NASCAR?

Not a chance.

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jaqua19 said:
But Chad wonr try and prove that.

Since 2002 Chad has been VERY vocal about Jimmie being the reason for the success. To the point where it was jarring.

I think Chad's focus is elsewhere, and a change was needed for him

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Some people are humble and don't like to take credit. How do you know Chad isn't just selling himself short? Additionally, just because Chad wasn't at the track, doesn't mean his fingerprints weren't still on those race cars that Jimmie won with. In fact, teams build/prepare cars well in advance. It's likely that he put his input into the car before he was even suspended. There's no doubt that Jimmie is a great driver, but Knaus is also an amazing crew chief. If Cole Pearn hadn't showed up, I'd still take Knaus over everyone else.
 
Johali said:
Rick let it slip when he said "I want Jeff back full time, I want to retire, well maybe not just yet but you know". Not word for word but close.
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which makes it crazy that Jeff is still a commentator for Fox. JG is my all time favorite race car driver, HMS is my favorite team in the sport but I find it to be a HUGE contradiction that he is a commentator while being groomed to take the big seat at HMS from Rick.
 
Snappy D said:
which makes it crazy that Jeff is still a commentator for Fox. JG is my all time favorite race car driver, HMS is my favorite team in the sport but I find it to be a HUGE contradiction that he is a commentator while being groomed to take the big seat at HMS from Rick.
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I've never been comfortable with active team owners in the booth - Jeff, Michael Waltrip, Phil Parsons, Brad Daugherty, etc.
 
lolla79 said:
Some people are humble and don't like to take credit. How do you know Chad isn't just selling himself short? Additionally, just because Chad wasn't at the track, doesn't mean his fingerprints weren't still on those race cars that Jimmie won with. In fact, teams build/prepare cars well in advance. It's likely that he put his input into the car before he was even suspended. There's no doubt that Jimmie is a great driver, but Knaus is also an amazing crew chief. If Cole Pearn hadn't showed up, I'd still take Knaus over everyone else.
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Of course he could be blowing smoke. Regardless, Chad has a family, and his and Jimmie's relationship has grown stale, which has an impact on anywork.

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jaqua19 said:
Of course he could be blowing smoke. Regardless, Chad has a family, and his and Jimmie's relationship has grown stale, which has an impact on anywork.

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True, I can agree with that
 
The 48 hasn't showed much championship level speed in all honesty since 2015. They had some good runs in 2016 and a lot of luck that year for #7. Not surprised by this decision.
 
Blaze said:
May I ask why?
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It's an absolute conflict of interest and in many venues would be considered outright unethical. It gives WAY too many opportunities to for these people to try to shape the story in a way favorable to themselves or their affiliated teams, and in a sponsor driven environment gives them added opportunities to plug sponsors and direct media exposure to their team at the expense of other teams who don't have equal access. How many times was Michael Waltrip allowed to sit in front of a camera during an event and function as part of the race coverage while wearing a firesuit with all of his sponsors on it? Is it REALLY right for Dale Jr. to be doing color commentary during a race where owns four of the cars competing? Should Jeff Gordon be able to extol the virtues of Hendrick Motorsports as part of the broadcast team while he is a part owner? Would you be OK if ABC hired Chelsea Clinton to report news on her mother's presidential campaign, or if Fox hired Donald Trump Jr. to report on his father's administration? I would hope not....
 
Formerjackman said:
It's an absolute conflict of interest and in many venues would be considered outright unethical. It gives WAY too many opportunities to for these people to try to shape the story in a way favorable to themselves or their affiliated teams, and in a sponsor driven environment gives them added opportunities to plug sponsors and direct media exposure to their team at the expense of other teams who don't have equal access. How many times was Michael Waltrip allowed to sit in front of a camera during an event and function as part of the race coverage while wearing a firesuit with all of his sponsors on it? Is it REALLY right for Dale Jr. to be doing color commentary during a race where owns four of the cars competing? Should Jeff Gordon be able to extol the virtues of Hendrick Motorsports as part of the broadcast team while he is a part owner? Would you be OK if ABC hired Chelsea Clinton to report news on her mother's presidential campaign, or if Fox hired Donald Trump Jr. to report on his father's administration? I would hope not....
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Great point.
 
Formerjackman said:
It's an absolute conflict of interest and in many venues would be considered outright unethical. It gives WAY too many opportunities to for these people to try to shape the story in a way favorable to themselves or their affiliated teams, and in a sponsor driven environment gives them added opportunities to plug sponsors and direct media exposure to their team at the expense of other teams who don't have equal access. How many times was Michael Waltrip allowed to sit in front of a camera during an event and function as part of the race coverage while wearing a firesuit with all of his sponsors on it? Is it REALLY right for Dale Jr. to be doing color commentary during a race where owns four of the cars competing? Should Jeff Gordon be able to extol the virtues of Hendrick Motorsports as part of the broadcast team while he is a part owner? Would you be OK if ABC hired Chelsea Clinton to report news on her mother's presidential campaign, or if Fox hired Donald Trump Jr. to report on his father's administration? I would hope not....
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I got no problem with it in racing, as a lot of times they keep the biasness down to a very min. I don’t see Dale Jr putting his drivers over a lot, and making them out to be a huge deal. He reports fairly. Same for others. Gordon sometimes did go a little over the top but oh well.

Reporting NEWS and doing commentary for sports is different by the way.
 
This tickled me this morning. :laugh:


Rodney Childers‏ @RodneyChilders4
Rodney Childers Retweeted NASCAR

I’m trying ok....
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Rodney Childers added,

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0:48
NASCARVerified account @NASCAR
Will there ever be another duo like @JimmieJohnson and Chad Knaus?
1:48 PM - 12 Oct 2018
 
Allenbaba said:
FWIW JImmie has been asking for a new CC since last season. Their relationship was definitely strained. And yeah, HMS offered Pearn more than twice as much $$ as JGR. Cole did not think it was a good fit for him.
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WOW
He knew HMS didn't like T Shirts. :D
 
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