Say the name Chad Knaus to a NASCAR fan or in the garage area and you are bound to get many different reactions.
Genius, hard-working, winner, dominate, innovator, and cheater.
It's no secret that Knaus has had many run ins with the NASCAR police so to speak. He's been fined and suspended on numerous occasions in almost every year that he's been a crew chief in NASCAR.
To some, it's all fair in a sport where it's his job to find a way to make his car, the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet driven by Jimmie Johnson, better and faster than everyone else.
Something that he did once again Sunday afternoon in Martinsville, VA. But it was something he did on Friday during practice that has gotten the attention of certain media members.
He wouldn't let anyone look at the 48 car.
No, not like your thinking. He didn't tell the media to not take pictures of the car—which he has done in the past.
He didn't tell the film crew to back away and not film them while working—which is another thing he's done in the past.
Instead, the team garage stall was covered by a blew drape.
No one walking by—media, fans, drivers, and maybe even NASCAR officials—could see into their garage area as they prepared their car for practice.
All is fair in love and war.
Except, Knaus and the 48 team have a long rap sheet of failing inspection and cheating in NASCAR. Whenever someone gets too close while they are working under the hood of that car, they get defensive and tell that person to leave their garage area.
Fine, no one wants to give away their secrets, if they find something that they don't want another team to copy or realize what they have figured out, of course you don't them to see what you are doing.
But once again, this is a team has a history of "pushing the envelope" as Johnson likes to say.
Three of Johnson's 41 career victories have resulted in failing post race inspection: the 2003 Coca-Cola 600, the 2005 race at Las Vegas, and the 2005 race at Dover—which ironically both he and the second place finisher failed inspection.
That second-place finisher happened to be his then teammate Kyle Busch in the No. 5 car. Johnson also failed inspection after winning the non-points paying 2003 All-Star race.
Not to bring up again the previously mentioned failed inspection processes during a race weekend.
The media member who spotted it as he was walking through the garage areas writes on his Web site: "Wouldn’t you [NASCAR officials] want to keep a much closer eye on a team that’s been known to cross the line in the past? That seems pretty logical to me...and there’s no way to do that with a drape protecting the car from public view."
Yes, Johnson went out and won the race and his car passed post race inspection, but it could just mean that maybe Knaus and company have gotten a lot more creative in hiding their dirty work.
After all, he wasn't caught cheating last year, the first time his his career and the first time they've won a championship without doing so, and a repeat offender doesn't just stop one day.
Now it seems Knaus has decided to pull the drape over everyone's eyes and has found more creative ways to cover up whatever he's doing in that No. 48 Lowe's garage.
For a full history of Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson and all their "adventures" visit here.
Source: TheFrontstretch.com
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