Around the Garage: Have Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus Hit a Rough Patch?

Maybe it's time for cookies and milk, but before we break out the chewy chocolate chip, let's make a few stops in the garage.

Jimmie

If I didn’t know any better, those heated radio exchanges during the race at Charlotte last week between Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus are not the stuff of a smooth-running relationship. 

These two have been through tough times before and if you’ve ever been married, you know what I mean. And these two, for all intents and purposes, are married—to their jobs—Johnson as the skilled and daring driver; Knaus as the genius mastermind. It’s a couple designed with racing in mind.

I think we all recognize it. It’s called “a rough patch.” 

It’s unfortunate that in this day and age, with all the social media available to us, we tend to want to pull back the curtain, so to speak, on every relationship to see how it works. And the racing media has done just that plenty of times with these two.

There are the replays on television of the two of them arguing over pit strategy. Or of Johnson complaining about how difficult the car is to drive and Knaus’ calm and somewhat annoyed reply of “OK, understood,” or something similar. To air it is dirty laundry, plain and simple. 

Look, these things are part of racing, but it’s also that we’re seeing the manifestation of deep frustration from two perfectionists whose lives, at the moment, are anything but perfect.

It’s Knaus’ job to make the car fast and comfortable to drive, and it’s Johnson’s job to drive it to the front of the field. It’s just that simple.

However, simple doesn’t mean easy. And if that wasn’t enough to deal with this season, the rest of the field seems to have caught up to the No. 48 team, erasing the advantage the Hendrick Motorsports team appeared to have in seasons past.

Former championship-winning crew chief and now Fox Sports analyst Jeff Hammond says this week, "I think the changes to the 2014 rules package has thrown them off their game just enough to where they are now beatable, when before come Chase-time they weren't."

It only takes a small issue with a race team to make a huge difference on the race track. And I also agree with Hammond’s premise that Johnson won’t be a factor in the season finale.

“Because of their inconsistency all year, I (Hammond) had predicted that Jimmie wouldn't make it to the final four at Homestead in November with a chance to win his record-tying seventh title.”

I can’t see a change coming for this duo. The fans love to talk and so do the television pundits. It makes for juicy fodder to suggest that the Johnson-Knaus marriage may be on the rocks.

We’ve all been there before. Relationships have their good times and their bad. It’s no different in sports. Everything is cyclical and right now Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus are on the downstroke, plain and simple.

It’s definitely not out of the realm to think that Johnson will be in Victory Lane on Sunday.

But I just don’t see it.

Junior and Jeff 

I think many fans missed Mark Armijo’s brilliant column from Racin’ Today earlier this week, with its insightful quotes by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon.

Both Chase drivers were in Phoenix as Hendrick Motorsports test drivers for the day earlier this week. Armijo, who lives in that part of the country, got Junior to open up about the importance of this weekend’s race at a unique place in time—away from the race weekend.

Earnhardt talked about NASCAR and not just about himself. He talked about how the current drama, even though he was at the center of it, was important to the sport.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Earnhardt told Armijo:

"

I think the format is very dramatic and really serves us well from an emotional standpoint. It’s raised our awareness throughout this part of the season, which is really important. We need people to plug into what we’re doing. Get the fans excited and tuned in to what is happening week in, week out. Not just this particular time of the season, but throughout the majority of the year if we can.

"

Too often, on race weekends, a driver is already in “the zone” by the time they’re sitting in front of the media for their press availability. Earnhardt Jr. isn’t likely to be as relaxed this weekend as he was this past Tuesday during downtime at a test session.

Gordon, who sits a somewhat-comfortable sixth in points, predicted, “Some big names are not going to be moving forward.”

The four-time champion had to be thinking “it could be me” while talking with Armijo about those big names. All of them are teammates of his. But, Gordon has stepped it up when necessary this season and while he’s not had the most stellar Chase run up until now, it’s been good enough to keep him moving forward in the new Chase format. 

In defense of the format, he added, ”These same things (bad races) could have happened in the past. You just have more races to make up for it. But for the most part, you’d still be out of it,” which refers to the old Chase format wherein one bad race and the loss of points would be so severe that you would never be able to make them up.

“At least with this format, you still have a shot.”

Big names may or may not be around for the finale, but both Gordon and Earnhardt agreed that despite its drawbacks, the new Chase format has brought a new level of intensity to the championship.

Junior pointed out that the final race opens up the title to not just one or two drivers, but four. 

“Four guys will be starting dead even to win the championship,” added Earnhardt. “That’s going to be a must-see event if you’re a NASCAR fan.”

Yes, indeed.

Tony

It was no surprise when Tony Stewart was fined $25,000 for backing into Brad Keselowski’s car while both were on pit road. And there’s the rub. It happened on pit road, which is regarded as protected territory by NASCAR officials, even past the time when the race has ended.

Stewart’s past outbursts on the race track have been well-documented. And you would have hoped that given his current situation, he might have had it reigned in. 

I cringed when I watched the replay of Stewart backing into Brad Keselowski’s car. And even though I agreed with why he did it, I immediately thought of its repercussions.

But, Stewart will always be Stewart. And what happened was not surprising.

Pockrass points out that Stewart's actions may have repercussions far beyond the $25k fine. There is the potential civil suit stemming from the accidental death of Kevin Ward Jr. in August. 

Pockrass writes:

"

But it’s incidents like the one Saturday night that give those people who don’t like Stewart or don’t know him — including those potentially on a jury determining the outcome of a civil suit from the Ward family — more fodder in forming their opinions.

"

I find myself agreeing with Pockrass when he draws the connection between restrictor plate racing and Stewart’s current situation.

For once, maybe you might listen to the media, Tony, instead of scolding them.

Danica

I wasn’t sure she’d have much to say, but Danica Patrick’s first entry as a "senior editor" with Derek Jeter’s The Players Tribune was a lightweight, but entertaining entry that, she later admitted to Brant James with ESPN, was mostly written by a ghostwriter. And while it didn’t tell me anything I didn’t know already about her life as a driver, it was an intimate glimpse into her personal life.

Like her or not, Patrick is a lightning rod for NASCAR and women in racing as a whole. She’s smart, appealing and a good thing for the sport.

I’ve already predicted that she’ll win a race or two sooner than later. It’s more than likely that first one will be a restrictor plate race. Hey, it could even happen this Sunday.

I look forward to reading more of her entries.

All quotes are taken from official NASCAR, team and manufacturer media releases unless otherwise stated.  

On Twitter: @BobMargolis