FLRacingFan
Team Owner
A little long, but definitely worth a read.
CHARLOTTE — The first thing you should know about this Chad Knaus-Jimmie Johnson dynasty is that NASCAR does everything in its power to prevent it from happening. It’s nothing personal. No sport in America, perhaps no sport on earth, is regulated, controlled, monitored, checked and policed as intently as the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. They enforce an enormous and secretive rulebook based on one premise: NASCAR doesn’t want dynasties. NASCAR wants wild, unpredictable, delirious racin’.
But there’s something about those two guys and the way they interact and fight and pull together that nullifies all of NASCAR’s efforts for parity. Knaus and Johnson are the best team in American sports these days — they just won their sixth championship in the last eight years.
What is it? How do they do it? Well, here’s a story they both share separately:
It was the day before the final race at Homesteam-Miami Speedway. Jimmie Johnson needed only to finish in the middle of the pack in the race to win the championship, and as he drove in the practice round he felt particularly ready. The car was responding to his every maneuver.
“Man,” Johnson said as he drove in practice, “the car feels really good,”
“Yeah,” Knaus said, “it might feel good. But it’s (bleepin’) slow. We’ve got to go faster.”
Faster? The two men glared at each other. They had won five championships together. Jimmie Johnson was making his case as the greatest stock car driver ever. Chad Knaus was making his case as the greatest NASCAR crew chief ever. Johnson spoke in his measured, California way. “Well,” he said, “I don’t know, it’s really comfortable.”
And Knaus spoke fast in a frenzied Chicago accent: “Look, we have to find a way to make the car go faster. We have to make sure you’re able to run up front. If there’s a problem, we need the speed so we can maneuver and get back up toward the front. We have 267 laps, there will be a lot of strategies, and we’ve got to be aggressive here. We’ve got to make sure the car has speed in it.”
Johnson listened and then, finally, shrugged and nodded. Knaus and his group made the adjustments. The car did not feel as comfortable for Johnson after that. But in practice the car had the fastest five, 10 and 15 laps in the field. The next day, Johnson and Knaus ran the race they wanted to run, finished strong, and won their seventh championship.
“Thank you,” Knaus said to Johnson.
“No, man,” Johnson said. “Thank you. You were right. We had to go faster.”
Read the rest here: http://www.nbcsports.com//joe-posnanski/whats-secret-jimmie-johnson-and-chad-knaus-success
CHARLOTTE — The first thing you should know about this Chad Knaus-Jimmie Johnson dynasty is that NASCAR does everything in its power to prevent it from happening. It’s nothing personal. No sport in America, perhaps no sport on earth, is regulated, controlled, monitored, checked and policed as intently as the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. They enforce an enormous and secretive rulebook based on one premise: NASCAR doesn’t want dynasties. NASCAR wants wild, unpredictable, delirious racin’.
But there’s something about those two guys and the way they interact and fight and pull together that nullifies all of NASCAR’s efforts for parity. Knaus and Johnson are the best team in American sports these days — they just won their sixth championship in the last eight years.
What is it? How do they do it? Well, here’s a story they both share separately:
It was the day before the final race at Homesteam-Miami Speedway. Jimmie Johnson needed only to finish in the middle of the pack in the race to win the championship, and as he drove in the practice round he felt particularly ready. The car was responding to his every maneuver.
“Man,” Johnson said as he drove in practice, “the car feels really good,”
“Yeah,” Knaus said, “it might feel good. But it’s (bleepin’) slow. We’ve got to go faster.”
Faster? The two men glared at each other. They had won five championships together. Jimmie Johnson was making his case as the greatest stock car driver ever. Chad Knaus was making his case as the greatest NASCAR crew chief ever. Johnson spoke in his measured, California way. “Well,” he said, “I don’t know, it’s really comfortable.”
And Knaus spoke fast in a frenzied Chicago accent: “Look, we have to find a way to make the car go faster. We have to make sure you’re able to run up front. If there’s a problem, we need the speed so we can maneuver and get back up toward the front. We have 267 laps, there will be a lot of strategies, and we’ve got to be aggressive here. We’ve got to make sure the car has speed in it.”
Johnson listened and then, finally, shrugged and nodded. Knaus and his group made the adjustments. The car did not feel as comfortable for Johnson after that. But in practice the car had the fastest five, 10 and 15 laps in the field. The next day, Johnson and Knaus ran the race they wanted to run, finished strong, and won their seventh championship.
“Thank you,” Knaus said to Johnson.
“No, man,” Johnson said. “Thank you. You were right. We had to go faster.”
Read the rest here: http://www.nbcsports.com//joe-posnanski/whats-secret-jimmie-johnson-and-chad-knaus-success
