Crew Chief Corner: Chad Knaus

Coming back to the Daytona 500 holds a lot of great memories for me with Team Lowe's Racing. Daytona is the place where we got our start as a team, and the place where we took our first steps toward a successful season, putting a rookie on the pole for only the third time in Daytona 500 history.

Superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega are my favorite tracks. I consider myself somewhat of an aerodynamic nut and, as most race fans know, aerodynamics play a huge role at these tracks.

	Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson Credit: Autostock

Superspeedways are somewhat of a specialty track these days since we only run on them a few times each season. The Lowe's team takes great pride in running well on superspeedways, and Hendrick Motorsports has a tradition of being very competitive on these tracks.

Please don't misunderstand me -- we spend a lot of time preparing for the intermediate and short tracks, especially the intermediate tracks where we run the majority of our races. Personally, I like trying to get the most out of our superspeedway packages.

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Frankly, coming down here for NASCAR's "Preseason Thunder" in January was frustrating. Team Lowe's takes a lot of pride in its program, and we didn't run the way we felt we should, especially after the success we had there last season.

We are a little behind many of the other Chevys with the new 2003 Monte Carlo body style. Because we were competing for the championship last season, we dedicated a lot of our resources toward the title chase. So we sacrificed some of our prep time for this season.

The January test at Daytona was the first time Jimmie Johnson had tested a new Monte Carlo. The guys on the team are working their tails off to make up the ground on the other teams, and we should be in great shape heading into the race.

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We will also be concentrating on having solid pit stops this season. I'm telling the crew that I don't care if they aren't the fastest guys on pit road. I want them to be the most consistent. Stops around 14 seconds. No loose lug nuts. Nice and smooth, and good things will happen.

We had a great pit crew last season. We had some unbelievable stops that helped us win races. The second Dover race comes to mind. We did have some stops that were not all that great, but teams will have those. I want the crew to be consistent and put us in position to compete for wins. Just like last season, I confident they will.

The keys to success at Daytona International Speedway:

1. Qualify on the front row

If you are on the front row, your place in the 500 is set, and you don't have to worry about the Gatorade Twin 125's. You can use that race as a learning tool for the big show.

2. Run well in the Gatorade 125.

This is the true test for us in the new Monte Carlo. If you're not on the front row, you need to run well to keep the car up front and out of the back where the trouble seems to start. Plus, Jimmie will need to learn how the new body style is going to handle in the draft.

3. Pit stops.

With the smaller fuel cell, the pit crew will have more stops than last year. As I mentioned before, we'll need to be consistent and solid all day long.

4. Horsepower.

Hendrick Motorsports and engine director Randy Dorton give us great motors, and they will come in handy at this track since horsepower plays such a big role in the race.

Chad Knaus is the crew chief for Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Hendrick Motorsports. His column will appear weekly on SI.com.