Crew Chief Corner: Chad Knaus

Here we go again. Our second and final trip to Daytona for the 2003 season, refreshed and reinvigorated from an off weekend, our last in a 20-week stretch. If you recall earlier this year, we had a tremendous Lowe's Chevy for the 500 and almost won the race.

	Chad Knaus

If the rain would have come a few laps earlier or held off for a few laps, we were one of the top race cars in that event and had a very good chance to win it. The good thing to come out of that race is that I expect the same from Team Lowe's for this weekend's Pepsi 400.

It's no secret that I pride myself in having strong runs on superspeedways, tracks that depend a lot on the actual race car and the setup it is equipped with. And it is also no secret that Hendrick Motorsports is one of the top restrictor plate teams in Winston Cup and takes great pride in the success in superspeedway races.

For this trip back to Daytona we are bringing the same Lowe's Chevy that we ran in this season's 500 and led the most laps with at Talladega earlier this year. It was built specifically for the superspeedways during the off-season and we feel will provide us with our best chance of winning Saturday night's race.

One of our unwritten goals as far as a team is to win a race and pole on every type of racetrack that we compete on. Team Lowe's has been fortunate to have three poles on superspeedways, but has yet to capture a win on one. Our plan is to change that this weekend and come home with some hardware from the famed racetrack.

In addition to a strong race car at Daytona, we also need a strong driver, one who knows how to use the draft to his advantage. In just six superspeedway races in his career, I'm proud of how fast Jimmie has picked up on the draft. Learning the draft is just something that takes time and in my opinion, Jimmie is ahead of the learning curve for where he is at in his career.

You not only need to know how to use the draft, but you also need to learn how to prevent other drivers from using it to their advantage. With Jimmie gaining more experience with the draft each time he's out on the track and with the resources we have at Hendrick Motorsports, I feel it is just a matter of time before we win a superspeedway race.