Spin sends Johnson to third provisional of 2003

SONOMA, Calif. -- Chad Knaus sits silent on a leather couch inside his team's transporter, clutching a stack of papers. Stewing. Searching.

The wheels inside his head spin faster even than those on the racecars participating in Bud Pole qualifying Friday at Infineon Raceway.

	"We're going to have to get creative," said Chad Knaus (pictured). Credit: Autostock

An hour earlier, Jimmie Johnson had lost control of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet during his qualifying lap, spinning out at the exit to Turn 10.

And while he managed to avoid hitting anything, the mishap relegated him to a 37th-place starting position for the third time this season.

They have ground to make up. Vineyards of it.

Hence, Knaus must spend Friday evening in study, attempting to conjure up a way to make up real estate on a track where passing is always difficult, and sometimes impossible.

"I'm going to go home tonight and think about it a little bit. We're going to have to get creative, real creative," Knaus said. "I'm going to have to look back at some road course races, the Indy car and Champ car guys, and see how they make up ground, study up a little bit.

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"We're going to have to be creative in the pits, too, and see what happens. We know you can't pass here. Well, you can but it's very difficult. We feel like we've got a pretty decent racecar, just may have to weld a couple more bumper bars in the front of that thing."

Johnson, who ranked 13th in pre-qualifying practice, felt like he was on the verge of laying down a quality lap when he screamed into Turn 10 a bit too aggressively. Not that it's an easy corner, by any means.

"There's not a lot of room there for error," said second-place qualifier Robby Gordon. "I lost a tenth there."

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"We had a great lap going, and I'm pretty disappointed in myself," Johnson said. "You've got to hit everything here, and when you're pushing so hard...I got into Turn 10 and I'd been loose throughout the day and I drove it in there like it was going to stick and it didn't.

"I'm just thankful I didn't hit anything. I apologize to the guys, because I think we had a top-10 car and now we're going to start in the back."

In Winston Cup racing, drivers get just one lap in qualifying. In some other forms of motorsports, drivers get several laps or a certain amount of time in qualifying, and the best one is taken as the time of record.

Knaus said he wouldn't mind seeing that format in the Winston Cup Series.

"It's difficult in Winston Cup to go out and qualify at a road course," Knaus said. "You only get one lap. Typically you see European style, Grand American style qualifying where you go out and get five laps or 15 minutes or whatever the situation may be for qualifying.

"So the driver has an opportunity to get his rhythm. We just made a small mistake today and we just have to bounce back from it. We'll be okay, I just have to do some studying."

The wheels are already turning.