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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
VENTURINI: ‘Real Deal’ With Chad Knaus (Part 2)
Wendy Venturini continues her conversation with Chad Knaus on this week's edition of “Real Deal”…
Wendy Venturini  |  Posted October 25, 2009   Charlotte, NC
SPEED's Wendy Venturini. (Image: SPEED)
SPEED’s Wendy Venturini continues her conversation with Chad Knaus, Crew Chief of the No. 48 team and driver Jimmie Johnson on this week’s edition of “Real Deal”.

Wendy Venturini: "Jimmie Johnson is the dominant one here when we come to Martinsville Speedway. He has won five out of the last six races at Martinsville. I think that’s a lot to be said about Jimmie Johnson and this 48 crew. He comes into Martinsville with the largest point lead with five races to go than he has ever had. 90 points is what Jimmie Johnson has. Who is that force behind Jimmie Johnson? It’s his Crew Chief, Chad Knaus. Here is part two of this week’s “Real Deal” with Chad Knaus.

RELATED STORY: VENTURINI: ‘Real Deal’ With Chad Knaus (Part 1)

Announcer: "The Chad Knaus-led 48 team does it again at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. You know what, he really works his guys hard but in the end it sure pays off."

Wendy Venturini: "Doesn’t the end justify the means as far as being demanding equals Championship?"

Chad Knaus: "It does and again when I first started that’s how I justified my actions. I always said: "look guys, we are going to go out and do whatever we can and we will work as hard as we can and as many hours as we can so at the end of the year we will get the Championship and that will be your reward..." but I have learned that that’s not always the case. As much as everybody wants to win Championships and everybody wants to win races, they have to get satisfaction outside of the race shop as well so you have to learn to balance that whole thing."

Jimmy Spencer: "The cockiness that Chad Knaus walks through the garage area with, you can’t take that away from him. It puts a mental edge over every competitor in that garage area. That’s why that team is strong, it’s tough."

Wendy Venturini: "I have known you for a long time and I am going to be up front with you. It seems a lot of the guys in the garage might perceive you as overly confident or even cocky sometimes. What do you think about the way people in the garage perceive you or do you care about that?"

Chad Knaus: "First off, I really don’t care. I will be honest, I think that you can call it cocky or confident or call it whatever you want. When I go to the racetrack I don’t go there to play, I don't go for a picnic. It’s not what it’s about. I'm there to race and people take that the wrong way because I don’t stop and talk and have conversations and I don’t go out to dinner and do things like that. I go to the racetrack and I worry about the 48 car and then go to my motorcoach and I work and I go to bed and get up in the morning and do the same thing. I think that the people that think I’m overly cocky probably don’t really understand me or know me well enough to even say that, so there."

Chad Knaus: (on This Week in NASCAR Kansas) "One thing I want to throw out there. Juan is awesome, no doubt about it. He is a fantastic race car driver but he has a hell of a Crew Chief."


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