Hendrick indicates deal in the works to secure Knaus

Rick Hendrick said Tuesday during a teleconference that he is working to extend Chad Knaus' contract and expects the championship crew chief to "retire" at Hendrick Motorsports.

"Chad and I are looking at other things to secure his future and investments. It's kind of a foregone conclusion between us that he's going to be here," Hendrick said. "We've got to get the paperwork done, but we still have a year-and-a-half left. So it's something we're doing. We try to get all our guys in place well ahead of when the contracts are up. So that's under way."

Knaus

Knaus, who has guided Jimmie Johnson to four consecutive Cup Series titles and 47 victories since 2002, is still working under an extension signed in 2006 that runs through next season.

"We've only started very light conversations," Knaus told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "I don't have a new contract, and we've barely had enough conversation for me to agree to anything."

Although Knaus said it is his intention to stay with Hendrick Motorsports, "you never know what will happen. There are so many what-ifs."

Knaus' immediate future will keep him in his current role as crew chief of the 48 team and driver Johnson, who this past weekend signed an extension through 2015, but the door is open for other options in the years that follow.

"Chad and I have talked about where he would like to be down the road," Hendrick said. "We've talked about it many, many times. But he is happy. He likes his role as a crew chief right now. You'd have to look at the success he and Jimmie have. He's happy doing that.

"But down the road when he's tired of being a crew chief, he can make a big impact on the whole company. He's already doing that. But for the foreseeable future, I'd say for the next five years, and if he gets tired in three, we'll do something else. But he tells me that he wants to do this, and the number he gave me was another five years."

Hendrick said Knaus' situation is different from that of Ray Evernham, who left Jeff Gordon's team after three championships to start his own organization.

"The way we work together, he's got input into four teams not just one team. It really wasn't quite that way when Ray was here. It was more individualized than it is today," Hendrick said. "So he enjoys the box. He enjoys being the field general. He likes working with Jimmie. They are writing the record books. And he's always looking at what is the next rung on the ladder that we have to accomplish to be, you know, one of the best of all time.

"So I think Chad really would be bored doing anything else, and he spends about 20 hours a day, seven days a week planning for the future. He was talking to me by text Sunday night, because I was in the hospital. He was already talking about 2010 and some things he wanted to do. Which I thought, 'Man, you ought to go celebrate this one.' But it amazed me how the guys are right back in here Monday morning, digging again. Getting ready for next year."

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