Jimmie Johnson-Jeff Gordon Crew Swap: Outcome for Both Sides in Phoenix

The decision by Chad Knaus to swap crews proved effective for Jimmie Johnson, but it was Denny Hamlin and his crew chief, Mike Ford, that put Johnson a mere 15 points behind Hamlin, the NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader.

Knaus, crew chief for Jimmie Johnson, stepped into uncharted territory when he replaced the crew of the Lowe's No. 48 team with that of Jeff Gordon's at the AAA Texas 500 last week.  In the media, it was debated as to whether the decision of Knaus to replace the crew for the four-time champion was the proper move to make.

During the Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, the crew for Johnson performed precisely as they needed to by executing pit stops in the 12.6 second range.

Jeff Gordon and the former Lowe's crew seemed to struggle a bit during most of the race with the driver of the DuPont No. 24 Chevy hovering around 16th place. After a pit stop on Lap 127, Gordon was forced to make up five positions lost as a result of the service performed on his car.

Knaus remained a cheerleader for Johnson as he struggled with grip and stayed just out of the Top Five with Hamlin running away with the show.  After the fourth caution, Knaus told his driver, "Let's do it this time." Johnson responded, "I'm trying man, I really am." 

Unfortunately, Johnson could not gain much in position when he restarted fourth, which was only one place ahead of where he finished.

It was the shortage of gasoline that forced Hamlin to the pits late in the race.  The green flag stop was devastating for the driver of the FedEx No. 11 Toyota after his domination of the race.  Hamlin's problem was the gift to Johnson that closed the gap in the point standings rather than the ability of Knaus to give his driver a car that could race for a win.

To the credit of Knaus, he told his driver to conserve gasoline when necessary, but Johnson did not have a car that could run wide open.  The No. 48 car was able to run an amazing 89 laps on one tank of fuel.

In the end, Carl Edwards nailed the win followed by Ryan Newman, Joey Logano, Greg Biffle and Johnson in fifth place.  Denny Hamlin could only race back to a 12th place finish, and Gordon finished 11th.

Knaus seems to have put the right people in the right place with the surprise crew swap, but he equated it to changing springs or shocks in order to have the best components in place as they fight for their fifth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup title.

After the race Johnson said, "We put a lot of pressure on the 11...hope he has a hell of a time this week."  It would seem the mind games Ford had been playing, backfired and now Johnson is truly a threat to Hamlin.

The new No. 48 crew has one week of experience under the guidance of Knaus, and they out-performed the former No. 48 crew.  Now, if they can give Johnson a better performing car at Homestead than the one at Phoenix, it looks like the fifth title is well within their grasp.