Johnson’s crew smooth at Kansas

Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Chad Knaus was as specific as he could be as he barked out orders from the pit box at Kansas Speedway.

Jimmie Johnson had just led 44 laps around Kansas Speedway, pitted under a green flag and was trying to work his way through traffic when his championship chances were nearly derailed. He spun by himself, hit the wall, and ruined a potentially race-winning car.

Knaus refused to throw away the day. He called Johnson to pit road to take a look at the No. 48 Chevrolet and methodically called out the play-by-play required for the crew to get the car back on the track — and keep the team in the hunt for the Sprint Cup championship.

“I knew he would make it sound better than it really was,” said Johnson, “quarterbacking the situation.”

Knaus ordered every Hendrick Motorsports crew member over the wall, and all of them were to take Bondo filler with them. He addressed certain areas of the car first, “hit it with a hammer!” he barked, “right there, between the o and the w!” he pointed toward the Lowe’s logo.

On and on it went, through at least a half-dozen stops on pit road over two caution periods. The crew worked in quick bursts so Johnson could rejoin the field as it passed by under caution, preventing him from falling a lap down.

When it was time to go racing again, Knaus assured Johnson that the car — which had thick black tape covering much of the back and the window — was good to go.

“There’s nothing wrong with that thing. Nothing,” Knaus radioed. “You just might have a little trouble looking out the back window.”

And there wasn’t anything wrong with it the rest of the race. Johnson drove the battered car to a ninth-place finish, one spot behind series leader Brad Keselowski to keep the Chase for the Cup championship standings unchanged. He went into Sunday’s race trailing Keselowski by seven points and left with that margin intact.

“He wasn’t lying. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t efficient,” Johnson said. “Slow on corner exiting down the straightaway because of the fenders being pushed out like they were. Through the corner, the car had a spoiler on it in a decent location and it was creating downforce. It drove well. That’s what allowed me to work traffic like I did to allow me to get up inside the top 10.”

If Johnson goes on to win his sixth NASCAR championship, he’ll be able to look back to Kansas and his crew’s performance as one of the shining moments of the season.