Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson's Crew Chief, Has Laptop Stolen

In another crazy story surrounding seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, this time Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, had his laptop stolen.

It’s been quite an interesting season to say the least for Jimmie Johnson, the most recent NASCAR Cup Series champion and one of three seven-time champions in the sport’s history.

Johnson began the season with a wreck in the Daytona 500, and it took him seven races before he scored his first top 8 finish of the season. That top 8 finish was a win at Texas, and he then went on to win the following race at Bristol to become just the second two-race winner of 2017.

Five races later at Dover, Johnson won his third race of the season to become the first three-race winner of 2017. The win was his record 11th at Dover and 83rd career victory, which tied him for 6th on the all-time wins list. But the next day, less than 24 hours after that historic victory, he underwent a procedure to remove skin cancer from his shoulder.

Wear sunblock kids. I've spent the morning on a table having Basal Cell Carcinoma cut out of my shoulder.
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) June 5, 2017

Talk about an up and down season. Through all of the adversity, he still has a NASCAR Cup-leading three victories. He sits in 8th place in the championship standings, which is remarkable given all that’s happened to him, but is still rather low for a driver leading the series in victories through 15 races.

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Now, add yet another negative to 2017 for Johnson, arguably the craziest one yet. Even though it didn’t happen directly to Johnson, he will surely be affected by it. His crew chief, Chad Knaus, had his laptop stolen from a rental car in San Francisco. That laptop reportedly contained notes for Johnson’s race in the Toyota/Save Mart 350, which is scheduled for Sunday, June 25th at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California.

The Associated Press reported that Knaus and his wife went to dinner, and upon returning to their rental vehicle, a window was smashed and the laptop was gone. While that laptop does contain race notes for Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports, the team for which he driver, reported that the information is encrypted. So although this may set Johnson and the rest of the #48 team back for the race this weekend, there is a low probability that there will be any way for the robbers to help out any of the other drivers with material that they should not have access to.

Next: NASCAR: Bettor's Guide For Sonoma

How do you think Jimmie Johnson will perform this weekend without these race notes? Will he overcome yet another episode of adversity in 2017 and collect his 84th career victory? Be sure to follow me on Instagram as well as Beyond the Flag on both Instagram and Twitter. Also, don’t forget to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions, and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it.

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Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson’s Crew Chief, Has Laptop Stolen

By Asher Fair | Jun 23, 2017

In another crazy story surrounding seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, this time Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, had his laptop stolen.