Chad Knaus Named WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Race in Martinsville
Chad Knaus, crew chief for the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy driven by three-time Sprint Cup champion, Jimmie Johnson, has been named the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Race in Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
After starting in the ninth position due to qualifying being rained out, Johnson began fighting a tight race car early in the race. With three cautions in the first 70 laps, Johnson was the only driver on the lead lap to pit twice, losing vital track position and falling as low as 25th place by lap 100.
“We went ahead and took the opportunity to pit and try to make the car a little bit better because we knew if we didnt take the opportunity then, we wouldnt have enough time to get back up through the field,” said crew chief Knaus.
Knaus’ patience and his crew’s flawless pit stops paid off as Johnson moved up the leaderboard and soared past leader Denny Hamlin with 70 laps to go. Hamlin slipped by Johnson 26 laps later, but in crunch time with 15 laps to go, Johnson made the final pass of the day for the lead, and sailed to victory.
“We didnt have an easy day today,” said Johnson. “We had to stay together as a team, work through a lot of changes, a loss of track position to make the car better and fight for the front, count on pit stops, count on good driving. It took a team effort today. Im very proud of that.”
“I was really impressed with the way [the No. 48 team] handled business this weekend,” said Jeff Hammond FOX Sports analyst and WYPALL Wipers spokesman. “Knaus and his team are proven winners, it’s hard to keep them out of Victory Lane for too long. It’s not a surprise that they won again [five of the last six races] here in Martinsville.”
Bob Osborne, crew chief for the No. 99 Roush Fenway Ford (Carl Edwards), Todd Berrier, crew chief for the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing (Kevin Harvick) and FOX/Speed Channel analyst Hammond, along with representatives from the WYPALL Wipers brand, serve as the panel for the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge and vote for the weekly crew chief winners. In addition to the $1,000 check, the winning crew chief will receive signage to announce the win on their pit box the following week. The crew chief with the most weekly wins will be honored as the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Year and will be presented a $20,000 check at the season finale in Homestead, Fla.
Former winners of the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge include Tony Eury, Sr. (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.), Robbie Reiser (Matt Kenseth), Doug Richert (Greg Biffle), Mike Ford (Denny Hamlin) and Chad Knaus (Jimmie Johnson).
Knaus, Johnson and Team Lowes Win at Martinsville
Jimmie Johnson helped Rick Hendrick celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports’ first victory in a special way Sunday – by taking him to Victory Lane at Martinsville Speedway.
Hendrick Motorsports has won 10 of the last 13 races at the .526-mile track; Johnson has won five of the last six.
The result marks Johnson’s 41st Sprint Cup Series win and his 14th top-10 finish in 15 starts at Martinsville.
Starting from the ninth spot due to qualifying being cancelled, Johnson found himself fighting a tight race car early in the 500-lap Sprint Cup Series race.
With three cautions in the first 70 laps, Johnson was the only driver on the lead lap to pit twice, losing vital track position to work on the racecar. On Lap 100, the Team Lowe’s Racing driver was running 27th.
“It didn’t start out the way we wanted to, for sure,” said crew chief Chad Knaus. “We didn’t get a lot of practice on Friday because of the rain. The new tire threw everybody for a loop. When we started the race, we kind of went a different direction than what we thought, than what we had in the past. The car wasn’t what it needed to be.”
“We caught a couple cautions pretty early,” Knaus continued. “We went ahead and took that opportunity to pit and try to make the car a little bit better because we knew if we didn’t take the opportunity then, we wouldn’t have enough time to get back up through the field.”
Slowly, Knaus found the right setup for the No. 48 Lowe’s Impala SS. On Lap 235, Johnson broke into the top 10 for the first time.
The longer the race went, the better Johnson was and on Lap 430 the three-time Sprint Cup Series champion passed Denny Hamlin for his first lead of the day.
“Fortunately enough, we got the car better,” explained Knaus. “It took the whole race to get it there. Jimmie did a really good job, showed a lot of patience, and the pit crew did a great job with the pit stops.”
Johnson and Hamlin would go on to swap the front spot two more times before Johnson muscled his way around Hamlin for the final pass with 16 laps remaining.
“I just patiently worked away at him and got in an area where I could try to out brake him and get into position in turn three,” said Johnson. “I got in there alongside of him and he kept coming down to go to the inside line. We made some contact. I think I went up over the curve. We were both sideways. Fortunately nobody tore anything up.”
“I think it’s really tough, short track racing,” continued Johnson. “I think Denny was trying hard to protect his lead, winning in his home state. I wanted to get to the front really bad because I want to win one.”
Johnson now has more wins at the paperclip-shaped short track than any other venue on the Sprint Cup Series circuit. He has five victories at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Team Lowes Finishes 3rd at Bristol Motor Speedway
Jimmie Johnson was looking for two things during Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway: a solid finish and a jump in the driver point standings.
Mission accomplished.
Driving the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet Impala SS, Johnson led two times for 88 laps on the way to a third-place finish at the half-mile short track. The top-five result boosted him to ninth place in the driver standings, just 38 points out of fifth.
“Great effort,” said Johnson, who also finished third at Bristol in the fall of 2004. “My guys sat me down a couple weeks ago, we went through our data. I made a wish list of what I wanted the car to do. Chad (Knaus) and the guys really gave me what I needed.
“I wish we could go race again for 500 more because with a couple small adjustments and the rhythm I was picking up on the racetrack, things were really starting to make sense to me.”
Johnson started the race third but stayed out during an early caution period to take the lead. He quickly showed the speed of his Lowe’s machine by leading the next 47 laps before being passed by eventual race winner Kyle Busch on Lap 68.
Despite hard racing with Busch and second-place finisher Denny Hamlin, Johnson never fell out of the top three until a mishap during a Lap 454 pit stop.
“We had a problem I think with getting the left rear on,” said Johnson. “I’m not exactly sure what happened but they were fighting with it.”
“We were lucky there weren’t a lot of cars on the lead lap and we were strung out on pit road – we still came out fifth,” Johnson added.”
Even with the slow pit stop, Johnson restarted the race in fifth place and steadily picked off Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne to return to third.
When Joey Logano lost an engine on Lap 495 of the scheduled 500, NASCAR threw a final caution flag, setting up a green-white-checker restart.
Johnson followed Busch and Hamlin to the green flag and held off a hard-charging Jeff Gordon to maintain his third-place finish.
“I’m very pleased,” said Johnson. “In some ways to be that close to a win and to see the 18 car pull into Victory Lane, I can now see what the leaders do, and I can visualize being in that position someday, where before we were so far off and had some decent runs but really weren’t in the race, racing for the win. Today we did that. So I’m very proud of all the work.”
The result marks Johnson’s third top five and seventh top-10 finish at Bristol Motor Speedway.
No. 48 crew earns pit road award in Bristol
The weekly competition recognizes over-the-wall pit crews for their speed in servicing the Cup cars.
Johnson’s crew was awarded the Tissot win after its Lowe’s Chevrolet Impala SS spent the least amount of time on pit road (235.745 seconds) during the 503-lap race at the famed half-mile Bristol oval. The quick stops lifted the three-time defending Cup champion to a solid third-place finish.
“Bristol is one of the most challenging as far as pit road goes,” said Chad Knaus, crew chief of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. “There’s a lot that goes on and there’s not a lot of room to work. The (No.) 48 crew did a good job and the fact that they were consistent all day getting Jimmie out of the pits helped the No. 48 Lowe’s Impala to a third-place finish.”
Johnson’s over-the-wall crew consists of: Mike Lingerfelt (front-tire changer), Art Simmons (front-tire carrier), Jeremy West (rear-tire changer), Andy Brown (rear-tire carrier), Kenneth Purcell (jackman), Rich Gutierrez (gasman), Mike Knauer (catch can) and Ron Malec (eighth man). The team’s pit crew coach is Greg Morin.
For winning the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award, the No. 48 team will receive $5,000. The team with the most pit road wins at the completion of the 36-race schedule will earn a $100,000 bonus plus Tissot watches for the driver and over-the-wall crew members.
Jimmie Johnson finishes ninth at Atlanta Motor Speedway
The three-time Sprint Cup Series Champion started seventh in the 330-lap event and led 11 laps on the way to his 158th career top-10 finish.
Piloting the Kobalt Tools Impala SS, Johnson battled a variety of conditions throughout the day but was able to maintain a top 10 position.
During a cycle of green-flag pit stops early in the race, NASCAR was forced to throw a yellow flag when a crew member from another team chasing a loose tire ran into the front-stretch grass.
Because most teams had pitted, only nine cars remained on the lead lap, including Johnson.
After a Lap 261 pit stop, the Team Lowe’s Racing pit crew picked up three spots on pit road and sent Johnson back to the track in second place. But a penalty for speeding sent the Kobalt Tools Chevrolet to the back of the longest line and Johnson restarted the event 15th.
“The pit road penalty hurt us,” said Johnson, who was able to pick up six spots in the closing laps. “I think we had a top five car today, but we really wanted to get out of here with at least a top-10 and we were able to do that.”
“We kept taking swings at it but we just battled a variety of conditions throughout the day in our Kobalt Tools Impala SS,” he added. “The guys did a good job on pit road and we picked up a lot in points.”
Johnson’s finish moved him to 13th in the Sprint Cup Series driver point standings, 177 points behind leader Jeff Gordon, who finished second in Sunday’s race.
Kurt Busch led 234 laps on the way to his second win at the two-mile Atlanta track.
Team 48 qualifies 3rd, finishes 24th in Las Vegas
For the second week in a row, Team Lowe’s Racing driver Jimmie Johnson showed the strength of his Kobalt Tools Impala SS as soon as the green flag dropped on the weekend’s Sprint Cup Series race.
Johnson qualified third for the 467-mile event but led the field to green after pole sitter Kyle Busch was forced to the back due to an engine change.
Johnson led the first 50 of 285 laps before green-flag pit stops began. After those cycled through, Johnson regained the top spot, leading laps 57-75 before the day’s fourth caution flag was displayed.
When Johnson brought his No. 48 machine down pit road, crew chief Chad Knaus called for four tires, while many teams opted for two. Johnson restarted the race 10th, and spent the next 50 laps working his way toward the front.
On Lap 122, during caution number six, Knaus called Johnson in for a two-tire stop, sending him off pit road in first place. He led the next 23 circuits around the 1.5-mile track before teammate Jeff Gordon passed him on Lap 149.
Johnson continued to run in the top five for the next 70 laps and was running second when he headed to pit road for a green-flag stop on Lap 219.
Gordon was attempting a green-flag stop on the same lap but missed the entrance to pit road, locking up his tires in the process. Seconds later, Gordon’s left-front tire exploded, bringing out the 11th caution and trapping Johnson on pit road.
When the race restarted, Johnson was placed on the tail end of the lead lap, but showed dominance again by quickly passing leader Kyle Busch to get the lap back.
Finally, on Lap 258, the yellow flag was displayed for caution 12, enabling Johnson to round the track and position himself for a charge to the front. He restarted 16th on Lap 263 and moved to 10th by Lap 270 when Paul Menard brought out caution 13.
When the race resumed on Lap 279, Johnson was ready to make a dash to the front, in hopes of a top-five finish. But on Lap 281, Johnson’s Chevrolet got loose in Turn 2 and made hard contact with the outside wall.
Johnson hobbled his way down pit road where the Lowe’s crew made quick repairs and sent him back to the track. He managed to complete the last three laps to turn in a 24th place result, one lap down.
“I got down into Turn 1 on the outside of the No. 26 (Jaime McMurray) and maybe it was just a little too high and I got in the dirty stuff and just lost it,” said Johnson. “It was just unfortunate. We had the best car.”
Johnson’s finish left him 19th in the Sprint Cup Series driver point standings, 145 points behind Gordon, who now leads the series.
