Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Chad Knaus admitted it was a tough Monday morning earlier this week, the day after his team and driver Jimmie Johnson were eliminated from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
“I beat myself up pretty bad,” Knaus told host Dave Moody on Wednesday evening during an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Knaus watched from atop the pitbox as Johnson hounded race leader Martin Truex Jr. over the final lap at the Charlotte road course. A win in sight — and a transfer spot into the Round of 12 seeming safe — Johnson attempted a late pass for the win with an aggressive move that spun his car around, and collected Truex Jr.’s No. 78 in the process.
JOHNSON: I’d do it again
The spin left Johnson with an eighth-place finish instead, and he was eliminated from the postseason by virtue of a tiebreaker.
“I feel like that maybe just one word out of me or two words out of me would have changed the outcome,” Knaus said. “Maybe he wouldn’t have gone in those extra 2 feet deeper. … It’s difficult to make those decisions in an environment like that.
“I feel that if Jimmie Johnson wins that race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the Roval to transfer into the next round of the playoffs, we have an opportunity to go win the championship. And I don’t mean just an opportunity, I think a real opportunity. I think that motivates (Johnson) and reinvigorates him and the whole team. And with the way that we’ve been performing over the last month and a half or so, I think we would have had the speed to actually do it.”
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Instead, the No. 48 operation will load in at Dover International Speedway out of the postseason, but in search of the Johnson’s 12th career win at the track.
As for the seven-time championship crew chief, he still has his driver’s back.
“He was going for the win, and that’s what thoroughbreds do,” Knaus said. “They go for the win.”
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