KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Chad Knaus walked out of the No. 48 transporter Friday morning and faced a phalanx of reporters for the crime of being within NASCAR law.

He hadn't broken any rules. He hadn't incurred any penalties. But in an inspection at the NASCAR Research and Development Center, series officials found the measurements on the No. 48 team's race-winning Dover car to be closer to the tolerances than normal. Given Knaus' reputation and the rumor-mongering nature of the Sprint Cup garage, the issue had morphed into a full-fledged controversy by the time teams arrived at Kansas Speedway.

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We've worked really hard to clean up the reputation of this 48 team, and we're going to hold that to the highest regard and the highest integrity.

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CHAD KNAUS

According to NASCAR, the sanctioning body brings the race winner and a random vehicle back to the R&D Center for further inspection, a practice that began with the implementation of the current Sprint Cup car. This week, those cars belonged to Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin, the top two drivers in the Chase. Although nothing was out of line, officials found the vehicles to be pushing the limits of NASCAR's allowed tolerances, and notified them accordingly.

Knaus said his car had incurred some damage in the Dover race, which may have been one reason behind the closer-than-normal measurements. Both cars were found to be near the allowed tolerance limits in "a handful of areas," Knaus said. But ultimately the vehicles were legal, according to NASCAR, and later returned to the team.

"There's a tolerance for everything," Knaus said. "As long as you're within the tolerance, you're fine. But once you start getting close to that line, you've got to make sure you understand why, and that's what we're trying to do. There have been other teams in the garage that have been over [to the R&D Center], and [NASCAR] has said, 'Hey, you guys are pushing it, you need to get to work.' This is just unfortunately the first time we've had that."

According to NASCAR, it's not unusual for the sanctioning body to alert teams that they're getting too close to the tolerance limits. Knaus called such a thing "preventative maintenance." He and Johnson each stressed that the warning from NASCAR did not imply that they were cheating.

"We weren't cheating, because the cars were not found illegal," Johnson said. "It's not uncommon for cars to stick around the tech center to be measured. The tech center has ways to measure the vehicle that the teams don't have. So they're doing their work and collecting their data and all that stuff, and the cars were there being inspected. Believe me, if they weren't legal, they wouldn't have been released. It is what it is. I hate that it's drawing speculation and concern. But the cars passed tech, and here we are."

Added Knaus: "If we were cheating, we wouldn't be standing here [Friday]. I'd be back in Charlotte. So obviously, that's not the case. We do a good job of building very, very good race cars, and we take pride in that, we really do. We've always taken it to what we think are the tolerances, but we never cross that line and we don't cross that line. The cars were legal. That's what everybody needs to understand."

Knaus said he plans to use the same car again later this season, at the upcoming event at Lowe's Motor Speedway. As for the No. 5 car, Martin said his position as the series leader in race wins has made his vehicle a regular visitor to the R&D Center. And each time, it's been found to be legal.

Sound Off

Jimmie Johnson gives his thoughts on the 48 car's post-race inspection following Dover.

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"The 5 car has been to the R&D Center more than any other car on the circuit," said Martin, who leads Johnson by 10 points in the standings. "We've won five times. They take the winner every time, and every time it's been legal. We were the random car at Dover. That particular car has been there, I think a couple of times already this year. It's close. But it's legal."

The reaction in the Sprint Cup garage area was a collective shrug of the shoulders. After all, there's nothing new about crew chiefs pushing the technical limits of a race car, a practice that's gone on since NASCAR's earliest days.

"NASCAR gives us a box, and you're supposed to use every bit of it, and if you don't, shame on you," said Red Bull driver Brian Vickers, a former Hendrick employee.

"I think Hendrick is as good at that as anybody, or better, of using every single bit of that box, pushing every component to the limit to what they're allowed to do. Obviously, the 48 team has crossed that line before. I'm not implying or insinuating that they did this past weekend. ... If they pushed every rule to the limit and they didn't break any, then as far as I'm concerned they didn't do anything wrong. Obviously, Chad has more fines than anyone in NASCAR history, so that's where the rumors are going to come from. I think, good for them. I wish that was us. When we go to inspection, we should have everything maxed to every limit that we possibly can without going over. That's the job of ingenuity as a crew chief and as a team in the sport."

Had it happened to any other team, it likely wouldn't have become the issue it was Friday. But the No. 48 team is going for its fourth consecutive championship on NASCAR's premier circuit, and Knaus has something of a history when it comes to infractions-- he was suspended for the first four races of the 2006 season for an illegal rear-window adjustment, and another six weeks in 2007 for an illegal front-fender modification. Knaus said those days are behind him.

"We've had our issues in the past," he said. "Trust me, I've had multiple discussions with [NASCAR president] Mike Helton and those guys in the past. The last thing I want is to sit in a closed-door meeting with Mike Helton again over what has happened to me in my past. We've worked really hard to clean up the reputation of this 48 team, and we're going to hold that to the highest regard and the highest integrity. We're not going to go down that path, and we're going to win as many races as we can and as many championships as we can as legal as we can."

Especially with so much on the line. A penalty of the kind NASCAR typically doles out for violations discovered on the current Sprint Cup car -- 100 points -- could be devastating for a team in the championship hunt.

"The last thing we want with what we're trying to do is have a situation in post-race technical inspection," Knaus said. "That is the furthest thing from our minds. We're going into this thing trying to win our fourth straight championship, and that's our focus."

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