{"id":22366,"date":"2018-10-12T15:55:41","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T20:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=22366"},"modified":"2018-10-14T15:20:48","modified_gmt":"2018-10-14T20:20:48","slug":"nascar-friday-talladega-notebook-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/nascar-friday-talladega-notebook-2\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR: Friday Talladega Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

Chad Knaus is ready to fulfill a career-long dream\u2014sort of<\/b><\/p>\n

TALLADEGA, Ala. \u2013 Almost from the day he arrived at Hendrick Motorsports 25 years ago, Chad Knaus had a specific ambition. He wanted to be crew chief on Jeff Gordon\u2019s No. 24 Chevrolet.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Kobalt Chevrolet, talks with crew chief Chad Knaus during practice for the NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 10, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Only one problem: Ray Evernham had the job. So Knaus began his association with the No. 24 team as a fabricator. He also changed rear tires for Gordon as an original member of the vaunted Rainbow Warriors pit crew and was part of Gordon\u2019s championship teams in 1995 and 1997.<\/p>\n

After subsequent stints with Dale Earnhardt Inc., Tyler Jet Motorsports and Melling Racing, Knaus returned to Hendrick in 2002 as crew chief for a largely untested rookie named Jimmie Johnson.<\/p>\n

In the 17 years that have followed, Johnson has won 83 races\u2014most among active drivers\u2014and a record-tying seven Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championships under a variety of postseason formats. The five straight titles accumulated by Johnson and Knaus from 2006 through 2010 likely constitute an unassailable mark.<\/p>\n

At the end of the 2018 season, however, the partnership between Johnson and Knaus will end. Johnson will get a new crew chief\u2014Kevin Meendering. Knaus will finally a get his shot as crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet, but not with Jeff Gordon, who has left the driver\u2019s seat for the TV booth.<\/p>\n

Knaus will call the shots for William Byron, a 20-year-old Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender this season. Byron\u2019s current crew chief, Darian Grubb, has been promoted to an executive position in the competition end of the Hendrick organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting for me\u2014it really is,\u201d Knaus said. \u201cI\u2019m an old racer guy, but I\u2019m totally geeked to be crew chief on the No. 24 car. I\u2019m not lying when I said that, when I started here, I was like, \u2018Man, I want to be crew chief on that No. 24 car.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI always wanted to be Jeff Gordon\u2019s crew chief. I didn\u2019t make that happen, but I (will be) at least crew chief for his team and for his car number.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knaus ticked off similarities between Gordon\u2019s situation in 1993 and Byron\u2019s next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had sponsor DuPont which is now Axalta on the No. 24 car back then,\u201d Knaus said. \u201cI\u2019m going to the No. 24 car with Axalta, which was DuPont. Jeff was 21-years-old. William\u2019s going to be 21-years-old next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really neat thing. I\u2019m stoked. I really am. I\u2019m sad that this chapter (with Johnson) is\u2026 It\u2019s not over. I mean you can\u2019t, what people think, \u2018The era\u2019s over\u2026\u2019 You can\u2019t erase what we\u2019ve done. It\u2019s not over. It\u2019s going to live forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

FOR BUBBA WALLACE, DAYTONA WAS A LONG TIME AGO<\/b><\/p>\n

The good news? Bubba Wallace finished a close second in the Daytona 500 in his first trip as a full-time driver of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Darrell Wallace Jr., driver of the #43 Farmer John Chevrolet, walks in the garage area during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on March 16, 2018 in Fontana, California. (Photo by Josh Hedges\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

The bad news? That was the singular highlight in an otherwise difficult season.<\/p>\n

Including the runner-up finish at Daytona\u2014his only top five this year\u2014Wallace has posted an average result of 24.9 through 30 races. At this point, the Daytona 500 is a distant memory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a long time ago,\u201d Wallace acknowledged on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, venue for Sunday\u2019s 1000Bulbs.com 500 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). There\u2019s a lot of racing. This schedule, first rookie year with the Cup schedule\u2026 it\u2019s a long schedule. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know that was a while ago, but we still relive those moments, those little highlights of success I still relive and think about constantly. It\u2019s kind of off in the distance, but it seems like you can just reach out and view it all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wallace hopes to relive the moment more directly in Sunday\u2019s race, the last restrictor-plate event of the season, but he has to be careful this weekend. Because of attrition, Wallace arrived at Talladega without a backup car.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, out of all the speedway races we\u2019ve had, we have run OK, but then the cars are totaled at the end. That\u2019s part of it. So, yeah, we\u2019re just going to go out and do our own deal until the race starts. That was new news to me going into this weekend. I was like \u2018Oh, all right.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

SORRY, NOAH, BUT THAT\u2019S NOT YOUR CREW CHIEF<\/b><\/p>\n

For a while, at least, Noah Gragson thought he might have the services of Kevin Meendering as his crew chief next year.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Noah Gragson, driver of the #18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota, stands by his truck during qualifying for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Fr8Auctions 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 12, 2018 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Gragson has signed with JR Motorsports, where he\u2019ll replace NASCAR Xfinity Series championship contender Elliott Sadler, who is retiring from full-time racing at the end of the season. Meendering is Sadler\u2019s crew chief.<\/p>\n

But Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick had other plans for Meendering, who will replace Chad Knaus as crew chief for the No. 48 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team of seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson next year.<\/p>\n

That leaves Gragson with a major unanswered question.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know who my crew chief will be,\u201d said Gragson, who is battling for the NASCAR Camping World Championship in the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota this season. \u201cI was reading on Twitter yesterday, and I saw Meendering, who I think that is the crew chief for the No. 1 car (Sadler).<\/p>\n

\u201cI started to put things together, and I thought that was the guy who is supposed to be my crew chief. Why is he going to be the crew chief of Jimmie Johnson next year? I don\u2019t know who it\u2019s going to be. I\u2019m really focused on competing this weekend and finishing this year out strong with my Kyle Busch team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gragson faces a Truck Series elimination race in Saturday\u2019s Fr8Auctions 250 at Talladega (1 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Chad Knaus is ready to fulfill a career-long dream\u2014sort of TALLADEGA, Ala. \u2013 Almost from the day he arrived at Hendrick Motorsports 25 years ago, Chad Knaus had a specific ambition. He wanted to be crew chief on Jeff Gordon\u2019s No. 24 Chevrolet. Only one problem: Ray Evernham had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[16,208],"class_list":["post-22366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-talladega-superspeedway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/MENCS_LVMS_JohnsonKnaus_03102017-e1489258946214.jpg?fit=625%2C417&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-5OK","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22366"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22369,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22366\/revisions\/22369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}