NASCAR: Chad Knaus Leaving The No. 48 Team?

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

There is going to come a day when Chad Knaus is no longer with Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team. The odds of the duo sticking together just aren’t likely given the fact that the shelf life of a driver always seems to outlast that of a crew chief. The fact that Johnson and Knaus have been together for 13 years is somewhat of a remarkable feat itself. That being said, Johnson recently made it clear that if Knaus is going to leave the No. 48 team it’s going to be because he wants too, not because Johnson wants him out.

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Following his elimination from the 2014 chase, Johnson made some comments about changing the team dynamic for 2015. These comments of course fueled the possibility that Knaus might be a part of those changes. Johnson however is quick to point out that although a day with Knaus may come, he wants Knaus with him for as long as possible.

"Yeah, that day is out there. I think a crew chief’s lifespan is much shorter than a driver’s. They live in dog years, and drivers can carry on much longer. I’ve been accused of being loyal to a fault in the past—that’s me. I have no plans or desires to make a change. When Chad decides he’s had enough of being the guy on the box, it will be his decision to step down.As far as I’m concerned, we’ve made it 13 years in this thing. I want to see it go as long as it can. We’re honest with each other and know each other well enough to work through the bad times. It might not be pretty, and I’m sure you guys have heard things on the radio that got your attention. We’re like family, and we fight like family. We can call each other out on that stuff, and you only hear a piece of it on the radio.There is plenty more that goes on behind closed doors and in meetings. It’s more of a time frame of when Chad says, ‘I’ve put in my time here as crew chief, and I need to slow down a little bit.’"

As far as Knaus hinting that his time with the No. 48 team might be coming to an end? That is something that has not yet happened, at least publicly anyways. Whenever Knaus has been asked about his future with the team or plans for 2015 he has taken a business-like-usual approach. In all honesty, there really isn’t a reason for him to take any other approach especially if he has no plans of leaving the team anytime soon.

Johnson and Knaus have gotten to six championships together and you can bet the house that Knaus and Johnson want to be together long enough to see seven and eight.

Christopher Olmstead is the Editor of BeyondTheFlag.com on the FanSided Network. Follow us on Twitter @Beyond_The_Flag and “Like” us on Facebook.

~Unless otherwise noted any quotes in this article were obtained from press releases via the driver or the team.~

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