NASCAR’s most successful driver-crew chief pairings

Hendrick Motorsports announced Oct. 10 that crew chief Chad Knaus would move to the No. 24 car in 2019, ending a 17-year run with Jimmie Johnson. The Johnson-Knaus duo will go down as one of the best driver-crew chief pairings of all time. Take a look at where they rank among some other top pairings.

Dale Jarrett & Todd Parrott

Championships: 1

Wins: 27

When the spotlight shined the brightest, Dale Jarrett and Todd Parrot often were the best. They twice scored victories in the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 and also earned a win in the Coca-Cola 600. Their stretch together at Robert Yates Racing spanned seven full seasons and saw them win the 1999 Cup championship and finish fifth or better in the standings six consecutive years.

Cale Yarborough & Herb Nab

Championships: 2

Wins: 35

A pairing often overshadowed because of whom they were competing against, Cale Yarborough and Herb Nab deserve recognition for how superb they were during their five years together at Junior Johnson & Associates. Along with consecutive championships (1976-1977) and twice finishing runner-up, Yarborough and Nab also won 26 percent of the races they entered, including a Daytona 500 and two Southern 500s.

Bobby Isaac & Harry Hyde

Championships: 1

Wins: 36

It wasn't easy to win races in an era where Richard Petty and David Pearson were at their zenith, yet Bobby Isaac and Harry Hyde did just that -- and with great frequency. Beginning in 1968 and extending almost through the entirety of the 1972 season, they won 18.5 percent of the races their team entered, including 11 in their 1970 championship campaign. That Isaac's title followed Pearson winning consecutive championships in 1969-1970 and preceded Petty subsequently doing so in 1971-1972 speaks volumes.

David Pearson & Leonard Wood

Championships: 0

Wins: 42

It doesn't matter that David Pearson and Leonard Wood never won a championship together, they were still as formidable a driver-crew chief tandem as any in history. With Pearson behind the wheel and Wood in the pits they were one of the very few teams to consistently beat Richard Petty and Dale Inman through the early-to-mid 1970s, winning every prominent race there was to win -- the Daytona 500, Southern 500 (twice) and World 600 (twice). And the only reason a championship collectively escaped them is because not once did Pearson and the Wood Brothers team to run the full schedule.

Darrell Waltrip & Jeff Hammond

Championships: 2

Wins: 43

This is the only connection on this list whose achievements encompassed two different organizations. When Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond first teamed up it was at Junior Johnson & Associates, where they won 31 races and two championships (and nearly a third). Later, they reunited at Hendrick Motorsports and though another championship never happened, Waltrip and Hammond did record another 12 victories, including Waltrip's only Daytona 500 triumph in addition to back-to-back Coca-Cola 600 wins.

Dale Earnhardt & Kirk Shelmerdine

Championships: 4

Wins: 44

Dale Earnhardt won championships with three different crew chiefs, but it was his time working with Kirk Shelmerdine when he experienced his greatest and most sustained success. Through nine full seasons together, Earnhardt and Shelmerdine won four championships (twice back-to-back) with Earnhardt collecting 44 of his 76 career Cup wins. And as Earnhardt transformed from "One Tough Customer" in the yellow-and-blue No. 3 car to "The Intimidator" in the black-and-white No. 3 car, it was Shelmerdine atop his pit box playing a pivotal role in Earnhardt becoming one of NASCAR's greatest drivers.

Jeff Gordon & Ray Evernham

Championships: 3

Wins: 47

When Jeff Gordon agreed to sign with Hendrick Motorsports he had one caveat: Team owner Rick Hendrick must agree that Ray Evernham be named his crew chief. Hendrick wisely consented in a decision that turned out wonderfully for the owner, who was still eyeing his first championship at the time. Had Gordon and Evernham not prematurely separated, there is every reason to think they too would have won seven championships.

Jimmie Johnson & Chad Knaus

Championships: 7

Wins: 81

Led by Jimmie Johnson's brilliant driving and Chad Knaus' ingenuity and uncompromising leadership, this duo has rewritten the NASCAR record book. Their run of five successive championships was unprecedented, a feat unlikely to ever be matched. And considering the level of competition they faced on a weekly basis, a strong case could be made that what Johnson and Knaus accomplished was even more impressive in scope than that of the only pairing with more wins together.

Richard Petty & Dale Inman

Championships: 7

Wins: 187

Ignore that many of their championships and wins came in a bygone era consisting of 40-plus races per year and few teams running for the title. NASCAR has not seen a more successful driver-crew chief combination than Richard Petty and Dale Inman. During their time together, Petty and Inman amassed seven premier series championships and 187 wins, including an astonishing 27 in 1967 (10 consecutively) and seven Daytona 500s.