Q&A: Jimmie Johnson.

Thursday, 16th February 2006

After the hammer blow of losing crew chief Chad Knaus for the Daytona 500 and possibly several other races, Jimmie Johnson sat down to set the record straight about the situation and to warn his rivals that even without Knaus, they disregard the #48 Hendrick Motorsports team at their peril.

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“Unfortunately, he stepped over the line. It's something that he admits and he feels terrible about. He is at home going crazy over this and I would imagine he will come back much more conservative. In some ways I am disappointed because he has always been one to drive technology in our sport. He will be back after just a couple of weeks at home and he'll get over it.”

Q
CAN YOU STILL WIN THE DAYTONA 500 WITHOUT CHAD?

JIMMIE JOHNSON
“Absolutely. This team is 100% capable of winning the Duel that we're in, starting last, and also the Daytona 500. We have an amazing team. Hendrick Motorsports has given us all the resources. Rick's (Hendrick) vision of the team and how things take place; we've been taking a lot of pressure off the crew chiefs of having to worry about every single detail. Darian has been experiencing some of the load and understanding what it takes to crew chief. He has been sitting next to Chad on the box. It is his chance to shine; it's our entire team's chance to shine. It will be easy to think well, the #48 is out of it. But all of our pride is on the line and we want to show the racing world this isn't going to keep us down, we can come out and be competitive and have a shot to win races.”

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