Chad Knaus has been Jimmie Johnson's crew chief since Johnson's Cup debut. Credit: Autostock

Knaus close to three-year extension with HMS

Owner said suspension, not doubt, stalled negotiations

CONCORD, N.C. -- Crew chief Chad Knaus is close to reaching a three-year extension that will keep him with Hendrick Motorsports and driver Jimmie Johnson through 2010.

"We've talked this week about trying to finish up a contract with him and going ahead and putting that to bed,'' said owner Rick Hendrick, who last week extended Johnson's deal.

	Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Chad Knaus' record as crew chief for the No. 48 team Starts 154 Wins 19 Top-fives 56 Top-10s 90 Poles 9 NOTE: Knaus served a four-race suspension earlier this year during which the No. 48 team collected two wins, three top-fives and four top-10s.

Knaus, who has been with Johnson since they broke into Cup full time in 2002, said he wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

"I love being at Hendrick Motorsports," he said. "I want to be there for the rest of my career. Rick is more than an owner to me. He's a mentor and a shoulder to lean on."

Hendrick said at Daytona he hoped to extend Knaus' deal, which runs through 2007, before the end of the season. But after NASCAR suspended Knaus for the first four races speculation emerged that negotiations were stalled.

Knaus said last week that there had been no recent discussions, but he didn't mean to imply there were problems. Hendrick made it clear there are none.

"I don't know how that all got out on the street that we weren't re-upping Chad," Hendrick said before Thursday's qualifying for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

"We're happy with Chad. Chad's happy here. He plays a big part of not only the 48 team, but the whole organization. We look for Chad to be with us for a long time."

Hendrick said the suspension turned into a positive for Knaus because he realized he could share more responsibility after Johnson won two races and had four top-10s under interim crew chief Darian Grubb.

"We talked about letting other people take more of a role, because you burn yourself out," Hendrick said. "You've got to pace yourself, let some other folks help you carry the load.

"We talked about it before Daytona, but Daytona might have been the best thing that could have happened for us from the standpoint of seeing first-hand how he'd trained a bunch of good guys."

Knaus sees himself stepping into another role within the organization at some point, perhaps after 2010.

"I don't want to be a crew chief for the rest of my life," he said. "There's a lot of guys that run themselves down to the bone. It's hard to run at this pace. It's almost become a young-man's sport, and a lot of the older guys wear out. I don't want to be that guy."

Johnson was 30th in his first race back under Knaus. In the past six races he has a victory, three top-fives and no finish worse than 12th. He also won Saturday's Nextel All-Star Challenge at LMS.

Now Johnson prepares for Sunday's race at the 1.5-mile track where he has won four consecutive points races.

"Jimmie Johnson has really impressed me," Hendrick said. "He is a smart racer today, where he was an aggressive racer a few years back. It's the old saying you've got know how to win and when to win and when to race. Jimmie has really figured that out.

"He and Chad together are the best they have ever been. ... I'm really happy with the chemistry of that team."

And he'd like to keep that chemistry going at least through 2010.

"I wish I had a few more like Chad," Hendrick said. "That guy works harder than anybody I know. You can call him at 10 or 11 o'clock at night and he'll be sitting at his wireless computer ... going back and looking at all the shocks, information, what he ran a year ago.

"Some nights he doesn't sleep. He is a really dedicated, unbelievably talented guy and he brings a lot to the table."