Who is Chad Knaus?

Chad Anthony Knaus (pronounced kuh-NOWSE) (born August 5, 1971 in Rockford, Illinois) is a NASCAR Nextel Cup crew chief for Jimmie Johnson, who currently drives the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by teammate Jeff Gordon and operated by Rick Hendrick's Hendrick Motorsports.

Born in Illinois, Chad Knaus grew up around the racetracks of the Midwest helping his father race against the likes of Mark Martin, Alan Kulwicki, Rusty Wallace and Dick Trickle. By the time he was 14, Knaus served as crew chief during his father's Rockford Speedway championship season. The father-son combination also won the Great Northern Series championship and finished second in the Winston Racing Series. A few years and many victories later, Knaus moved to North Carolina in 1991 to pursue a job in national stock car racing.

After working with Stanley Smith's stock car team, Knaus landed a job working on the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team led by crew chief Ray Evernham and raced by driver Jeff Gordon. From 1993 to 1997, Knaus advanced from a general fabricator to manage the entire chassis and body construction program for the No. 24 team. Serving as a tire changer on the original Rainbow Warriors pit crew, Knaus was an integral part of the 1995 and 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship teams.

Following the 1997 season, Knaus joined Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as car chief, where he worked with Steve Park, and later Michael Waltrip. During the 1998 season, he moved to Tyler Jet Motorsports, and in 1999, the call came that would lead Knaus to Dodge, Melling Racing and his ultimate career goal. Ray Evernham wanted Knaus to lead the Dodge Development team, an opportunity he quickly seized.

During two Dodge test sessions, Knaus worked with Melling Racing driver Stacy Compton. The two worked well together, resulting in Knaus' hire as crew chief for Compton in 2001.

Criticism
In early 2006, Knaus was accused of "cheating" after Jimmie Johnson's Daytona 500 qualifying run. Knaus made an illegal adjustment to the rear window, which resulted in his suspension from Cup events until March 22. Despite the loss of his crew chief, Johnson won the Daytona 500 with interim crew chief, Darian Grubb. While more accusations of cheating were made, the car passed NASCAR inspection.

On June 23, 2007, Knaus again found himself at the center of controversy. Knaus admitted to making modifications to the front fenders of the racecar to improve front downforce. These modifications were discovered and disallowed during initial inspection. [1] Johnson was not allowed to qualify the car, and he started at the back of the field. Knaus was fined $100,000, and was suspended for six races.