Are Chad Knaus, William Byron a New Dynamic Duo?
The career that would eventually lead to 7 titles with Jimmie Johnson started for Chad Knaus back in the mid-1990s. Knaus was part of another dynasty, the famed 'Rainbow Warriors' 24 pit crew for Jeff Gordon. After several years on the 24 crew, Knaus was paired with then-rookie Johnson for the 2002 season.
Success was near-immediate for Johnson and Knaus. They won their first pole position in their first start together, the 2002 Daytona 500. Over the next 17 seasons, they would win 83 races and a record-tying 7 championships with each other.
However, Johnson and Knaus would split following 2018, their first winless season. Johnson would get a new, rookie crew chief in Kevin Meendering. Meanwhile, Knaus would move over to the 2018 Rookie-of-the-Year winning team with William Byron.
Byron, 21, is one of NASCAR's rising young stars. A lot of hype and success has followed him to the Cup Series. Though he has only been racing since 15, Byron has had amazing success in every level of stock car racing.
In 2015, Byron won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship and Rookie of the Year honors. K&N East is a developmental series that has teenage male and female races drive on short tracks across the eastern United States.
2016 saw Byron move up into the NASCAR Truck Series, the equivalent of AAA baseball for racing. In just his first year in the Trucks, Byron won a rookie record 7 races, narrowly losing the championship.
Byron's time in the Trucks was short-lived, as he moved up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series for 2017. Now in the second-highest level of professional racing in America, Byron had a lot of expectations placed on him. And meet these expectations Byron did, winning 4 races and the Xfinity Series championship. William became only the 3rd rookie ever to win the Xfinity Series title, and with that came Cup Series aspirations.
Announced late in 2017, William Byron would replace Kasey Kahne at Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup Series for 2018. Instead of racing the 5 car that Kahne was vacating, Byron would lead a rebranding effort for Team Hendrick. The 5 car would become the 24, continuing the legacy that Jeff Gordon began.
William Byron's first season in the Cup Series was a solid year by rookie standards. He finished 23rd in the final points standings, with 4 top 10 finishes, 61 laps led, and 91% lap-completion. These stats were strong enough for Byron to clinch the ROTY Award with a week remaining in 2018.
However, despite the solid season, William Byron would undergo a big transition for 2019. Chad Knaus would transition to the 24, in an effort to help mold the young racer's skills and help him win.
Will Chad Knaus and William Byron become another dynamic duo? Only time will tell, but 1 day into the 2019 NASCAR season, the 24 team is looking promising. Byron and Knaus qualified on the pole for the Daytona 500, the most important and prestigious pole award for the biggest race of the year. Car 24 led a 1-2-3-4 sweep in Daytona 500 qualifying by Hendrick Motorsports. This feat could be a sign of things to come for the super team.
The 2019 Daytona 500 marks the first pole of William Byron's young career in the NASCAR Cup Series. With the guidance of Chad Knaus, expect better results from the 24 car in 2019, perhaps even a Playoff appearance.
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