So far this season, FOX Sports have taken an interesting approach to the commentators in the broadcasting booth, with two fixed names and one rotating name, usually of a former NASCAR driver. However, for the upcoming races, the new name in the booth isn’t of a former driver but a former crew chief, one who took Hendrick Motorsports to gargantuan heights, and is continuing to do so still in a new role, one fella named Chad Knaus.
The Vice President Of Competition at Hendrick Motorsports, Chad Knaus, will be in the FOX booth alongside Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer for the races in Richmond and Martinsville.
Chad Knaus is the guest analyst in the TV booth for Richmond and Martinsville. https://t.co/KGVgUcG3ph
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 1, 2022
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However, this news didn’t sit well with some NASCAR fans. It seems they didn’t like the idea of Knaus calling races, which isn’t all that surprising considering he is one of NASCAR’s most divisive, polarizing figures.
Knaus, when he was the crew chief for Jimmie Johnson,
Can we stop calling invested people analyst?
— NASCAR Fact Checker (@RickKaufman1) April 1, 2022
Oh boy! Another Hendrick Motorsports cheerleader! Was Jeffy not available?
— RW (@bhhs70) April 1, 2022
He can spot the cheating before Nascar does.
— Blue Oval Domination (@CindricFan2) April 1, 2022
Unacceptable. I prefer @DanicaPatrick
— Craigster (@OceanorMtns) April 1, 2022
Chad Knaus’ success with Hendrick Motorsports is the reason why he’s so polarizing
Chad Knaus is currently the Vice President of competition at HMS, but he will forever be known as the crew chief for No.48 of Jimmie Johnson. It was his long tenure and partnership with Johnson that earned him, his driver, and their team the success they’re known for today.
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Together, the duo won five Cup championships in a row, and seven in total. Naturally, this level of success brought inexplicable hate for the crew chief, his driver, and his team. They simply won too much.
All of this earned Knaus the title of being the Bill Belichick of NASCAR, another polarizing figure in the NFL.
But despite the hate and the criticism, Chad Knaus is arguably one of the most innovative, certainly the most successful crew chiefs in NASCAR history.
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