Johnson to use Gordon's crew for rest of season

The car of Sprint Cup Series championship contender Jimmie Johnson will be serviced for the remainder of this season by the over-the-wall crew of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, the organization made official Monday.

Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief, substituted Gordon's crew for his own midway through Sunday's event at Texas Motor Speedway. The regular No. 48 crew had worked a series of slow stops that cost Johnson track position, and Gordon's crew was available because the driver of the No. 24 car had been knocked out of the event in a crash.

Up for discussion

Everyone had an opinion on the mid-race crew switch.

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The statement issued by Hendrick on Monday afternoon said little other than the crews would be traded for the remainder of the season, and that the swap would be limited to the seven primary members of the over-the-wall unit. Roles of additional team personnel would not be affected. Knaus and Steve Letarte, crew chief for Gordon's car, are slated to address the change on Tuesday morning.

The slow stops by the regular No. 48 crew, one of which involved lug nuts being knocked off the right-front tire, forced Johnson to repeatedly rally from deep in the pack Sunday. He finished ninth at Texas, and is now 33 points behind race winner and new championship leader Denny Hamlin with events at Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway still remaining this season.

Knaus said Sunday night that the decision to swap the crews was his, and that the team would meet Monday morning back at the Hendrick shop to hash out a plan for the remainder of the year.

"It's a professional sport, and you see it all the time," Knaus said after the Texas race. "If somebody's out or somebody's not getting it done, say in football, you get a different receiver in the game or a different quarterback, or whatever it is. Unfortunately, our guys weren't hitting on all eight cylinders [Sunday], and we had an opportunity with the 24 crashing to bring those guys in. They did a good job. They came in and played relief, and I thought they did a good job [Sunday]. It's unfortunate. I don't like doing that stuff, nobody does. But it's kind of your job."

Johnson now trails in the championship standings with two races remaining for the first time during his unprecedented four-year title reign. He said Sunday he wasn't surprised by the change, which had been building because of slow stops leading up to the Texas race. Such a change mid-week isn't unusual -- the Richard Childress Racing teams of Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick did just that two weeks ago, adding Bowyer's superior crew to try and bolster Harvick's championship effort.

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• Menzer: Ford ready to pounce after first sign of 48 weakness