When the checkered flag flew on the 2010 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jimmie Johnson and Team 48 accomplished what only the 1958-65 Celtics, the Yankees of 1949-53 and the 1956-60 Montreal Canadians had done– win their respective championships five years in a row. Beating out Denny Hamlin by 39 points, Johnson claimed his fifth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup and solidified his place among the greats of NASCAR history.

Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty’s feat of 7 total titles is now clearly within reach. With each Sprint Cup win, the name Jimmie Johnson has become a part of sporting lore across America. However, like all great achievements in sports and in life, it’s never about one name.

In football Brady and Belichick are the NFL odd couple. With the NBA, it’s the Kobe and Phil show. Boxing? Pacquiao and Roach. All are great athletes with a great supporting cast. Without Bill Belichick, few would argue that Tom Brady would have three Super Bowl rings and be in position to win his fourth. No Phil? Kobe may still be looking for his first ring. Manny Pacquiao captured his eighth title in eight divisions by dismantling Antonio Margarito. Yet, it was the legendary Freddy Roach sitting in his corner every step of the way.

Jimmie Johnson has a name in his corner, too. It’s a name that fans outside of NASCAR have probably never heard of. It’s a name that is inexorably connected to a string of championships that many wouldn’t have thought possible. That name is Chad Knaus.

Think Belichick, Phil, Roach and throw in Tiger’s caddy Steve Williams rolled into one to describe what Knaus has meant to Jimmy Johnson’s pursuit of NASCAR supremacy. Simply put, Chad Knaus is the key component to the engine that drives this historic team.

From the beginning of Jimmie Johnson’s meteoric rise to the top of his profession, Chad Knaus has been in his ear. Knaus had made his way up the NASCAR ranks first as a crew chief for his father, John Knaus, where the NASCAR bug bit and bit hard. He soon joined Hendrick Motorsports and worked on Jeff Gordon’s crew in various capacities helping to bring home the Cup for Team Gordon in 1995 and 1997. After five years away from Hendrick Motorsports, he rejoined the team as crew chief for an up and coming star by the name of Jimmie Johnson. It was obvious in the first few seasons that the team had unmistakable potential, but there was one issue that needed to be addressed – Knaus’ incredible drive to win. That drive for greatness was at the same time his strongest trait and, the team’s greatest weakness. Being driven to win made him an insufferable distraction, exhausting the team around him.

After a meeting of the minds with Johnson and Rick Hendrick following a disappointing season, Knaus began to make the biggest adjustment as crew chief that he had ever made, a change of pace. Gone was the frenetic, overbearing energy being replaced with a calm  determination for excellence and the result has been nothing short of breathtaking. With Jimmie Johnson’s cool demeanor under pressure and Chad Knaus’ undeniable talent the two have written history together. The scary thing? They are only getting started…

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