The year was 1985, and school was just about to let out for summer vacation, a time of the year that all young people have always looked forward to.
Summer to most of them meant, going to visit distant relatives, maybe some camping, going to the movies with some of your friends, or even an amusement park or two. Summer can also be a time when some youngsters look for a job to put extra cash in their pockets.
But to a 14-year-old native of Rockford, IL, it meant spending his weekends, helping his dad win his first Great Northern Series championship. This father and son combination would also finish second in the Winston Racing series.
What a joy it must have been for this young man’s dad to see, and hear his son in the box during his championship season.
The son grew up around the racetracks helping his father race against the likes of Mark Martin, Alan Kulwicki, Rusty Wallace and Richard Trickle, never realizing that someday his son might be named amongst some of the best crew chiefs that NASCAR has ever seen.
Twenty-six years later as the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship is about to get underway. Who is this crew chief that started winning championships at an age when most young boys were busy chasing girls, and probably worried more about staying away from their own parents, then spending all weekend with them?
After all, this was a time when most teenagers were still having trouble doing their everyday chores, but yet to this young man, his chore carried a huge responsibility that most men twice his age couldn’t handle.
He has also taken the term crew chief to whole new level, and has shown the most effective way to get the most out of his driver, with the humbleness of letting the racing world know that it’s the driver who is most important.
Crew Chiefs are what make winners, winners. They are the backbone of the whole racing organization, and they are also the ones who carry the brunt of how their driver performs.
It’s their strategy that gets tested week after week, race after race. Behind every great driver, is always a great crew chief.
Chad Anthony Knaus has exemplified the term crew chief. He has brought with him over 25 years of experience, dating back to a time when his fellow classmates were probably more worried about pimples, and getting caught smoking behind some classroom then working, and helping their dads win auto racing championships.
What Chad has done since he got his first job back in 2001 while sitting in the box for Stacey Compton, is shown the racing world that he belonged among some of the best in the business, even though he has had his share of controversy dating back to his first incident in 2006 during the Daytona 500.
Chad as we all know is the crew chief for the No. 48, Jimmie Johnson driven Lowes Chevrolet, which is owned by Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick.
Chad started his Winston cup career with the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team, which was led by then crew Chief Ray Evernham. Chad was the team fabricator, but then quickly moved up to the chassis and body manager.
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