NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus-A Match Made in Heaven

Entering the Sprint Cup Series in 2002 driving for Rick Hendrick and being labeled Jeff Gordon's protégé, the expectations were very high for rookie Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus. Now seven years later, I think it's safe to say that they've lived up to the hype.

It's important to have a bond with your crew chief, they need to be your best friend and communication is key. Johnson and Knaus seemed to click right from the beginning and they've been a force to reckon with ever since. Johnson even jokes and call Chad his second wife. Their accomplishments include a Daytona 500 win (even though Knaus was sitting at home), two Brickyard 400s and back-to-back championships in 2006 and 2007.

While Johnson is getting it done on the racetrack, Knaus is the brains behind the operation. Many have called him the most innovative crew chief in this era because of his record of getting in trouble with NASCAR. If there was, an award for most popular crew chief Knaus may get the vote. Knaus is a chip off of Ray Evernham's block, he's learned from the best and built his own dominant race team.

They've conquered all forms of tracks, from super speedways, to short tracks, intermediates and road...alright so the only road they've conquered is to the championship. However, Johnson's numbers speak for themselves and they’re very impressive.
In 242 career starts, he has 16 poles, 35 wins, 93 top fives, 146 top tens and only 25 dnfs. His average starting position is eleventh and his average finish is twelfth. He's completed 83.96 percent of the laps run and we've already mentioned his two championships. Yes, they are that good.

There are twenty-two tracks on the current Sprint Cup schedule and Johnson and Knaus have won on all but seven of them. Chicagoland in Illinois, Homestead in South Florida, Kansas, Michigan, the road course in California and Watkins Glen New York and then there's Bristol, Tennessee.

The half mile short track of Bristol, Tennessee is one place that both Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus cannot figure out. Their best finish is third and the worst is thirty-sixth but that's the least of the dynamic duos problems. In thirteen starts at Thunder Valley, they have 1 pole, 0 wins, 2 top fives and 6 top tens.

Their average start is 16.0 and average finish is 16.2 with a 66 percent total in laps led. This past weekend Johnson once again started from the back of the grid in the thirty-fourth position. As he was making his way through the field on lap twenty-six he made contact with Sterling Marlin, which resulted in damage to his right front fender, and it broke the front splitter.

The crew went to work on repairs but they lost thirteen laps and by the end of the night, he was seventeen laps down and finished in thirty-third spot. Another bad night in Tennessee.

So why has one track caused so much trouble for the men that have seemed untouchable the last two years and won ten races last year?

Before the start of the Sharpie 500 Chad Knaus told ESPN, "We just want to get through this race tonight and salvage some points. My driver can't drive here and I can't set up a car here. Once we're out of here we can win anywhere." It's not without lack of trying as Johnson entered the Craftsmen Truck race last Wednesday night just to log some laps.

In addition, Knaus was right there listening and watching his driver in hopes of learning something, anything. I have a feeling that they did even though they had a rough Saturday night.

Because before last year Johnson struggled at Texas and Phoenix and they were called his worst tracks, until he went out and won on both of them in very convincing fashion. It's only a matter of time before they figure out what's missing and become a force to reckon with at another tracking-adding another accomplishment to their resume.