Q.
ROBERT YATES SAID THIS VIOLATION WAS SO SEVERE THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THROWN OUT OF THE SPORT
CHAD KNAUS
"I'm not going to touch what Robert said there. He's got the right to his opinion. If that's his statement, I don't really have a response to it."
Q.
ON THE SEVERITY OF THE HMS PENALTY COMPARED TO THE PENALTY HANDED OUT TO THE HALL OF FAME RACING PENALTY FOR A PARTS VIOLATION
CHAD KNAUS
"I don't know. We're going to accept what NASCAR deemed necessary for the penalty. You don't second-guess what they say unless you feel as though you need to. We accept what it is they said and the severity of it is what it is and we just move on with it."
Q.
YOU APOLOGIZED TO JIMMIE, BUT HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WHAT HE HAS HAD TO DEAL WITH IN THE WAKE OF THIS?
CHAD KNAUS
"I hate it. It's a terrible thing. I don't want this to overshadow anything. From a media standpoint and what's happened with the car, it's been blown way out of proportion. Obviously I got in trouble for something during qualifying. This was not during the qualifying race or the Bud Shootout or the
Daytona 500. So this should have no bearing on what this team has accomplished. Jimmie shouldn't have to deal with it a damn bit. He's won the Daytona 500 man, and he should be held up by his shoulders right now and I know he feels that way. He's happy that he won it and he's sad that I'm not there celebrating with him."
Q.
BUT YOU HAVE SEEN THAT HE'S NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET AWAY FROM ALL THE CHEATING TALK
CHAD KNAUS
"He would never get away anyway. He's going to run all the way across country tomorrow to do LA, so he would never get away. He just has to deal with it."
Q.
WERE YOU SURPRISED WHEN YOU FOUND OUT THE CAR FAILED INSPECTION?
CHAD KNAUS
"I was surprised, yeah. I was shocked. And the worst thing was - you guys don't know because you're not down there in the middle of it - but the Shootout had been rained out and we had to get Jimmie and the team and the car ready for the Shootout. I came back and the car that I thought was going through post-qualifying inspection process was covered up. So I was shocked."
Q.
IF THIS WAS YOUR FIRST OFFENSE, DO YOU THINK IT WOULD BE GETTING THIS MUCH ATTENTION?
