Either the boldest move in the Chase or the end of an era, the startling mid-race decision to replace Jimmie Johnson’s pit crew with Jeff Gordon’s has been made permanent for the final two races of the 2010 season.
Struggling with stops and losing positions on pit road at Texas Motor Speedway, crew chief Chad Knaus benched his championship-winning crew in favor of Gordon’s squad, who had been relegated to packing up shop after Gordon wrecked out of the event. And even with a new crew to aid his final stops, Johnson was unable to retain his points lead, as Denny Hamlin would go on to win the AAA Texas 500 and claim a 33-point lead over Johnson who finished ninth.
With the frustration palpable on the faces of the former crew for the No. 48 team and their egos bruised in the most-public fashion, it came as no surprise that Hendrick Motorsports made the move permanent with a Monday press announcement.
The crew swap has Mike Ford, crew chief for Hamlin’s No. 11 team, giddy with anticipation, claiming Johnson’s team has lost focus and the move smacked of, “desperation.”
Ford’s comments do not come as a surprise. Ford was upset when Knaus willingly broke an unwritten rule among title contenders by selecting a pit stall directly in front of Hamlin’s at the Chase race in Kansas. Ford’s team returned the favor by doing the same to Johnson in Texas, leaving Ford perched next door to watch as Johnson’s team struggled in the pits.
“You’ve watched them play mind games with people in the past, and I’m completely immune to that,” Ford said earlier in the week. “I could care less. I’ll be right in their face saying, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ I think our race team is better than their race team and I’m not going to tiptoe around them because of where they’re at. I’m going to do what it’s going to require for us to win a championship – to beat them. Not that I’m playing dirty by any means, but … I’m not afraid to go toe to toe with them.”
Those sure do sound like fighting words. And perhaps Ford is right to question Knaus’ decision.
While Johnson’s pit crew certainly hasn’t been the best in the 2010 season, they are one of the better and most-experienced groups on the circuit. Meanwhile, it seems forgotten by many that Gordon’s crew was under fire earlier in the season for pit road mistakes.
With just two races remaining on the schedule and the Chase moving to Phoenix, a track oft dominated by Johnson, fans will soon know if the in-race switch represents the end of an era – the conclusion to an unprecedented run of four-straight titles for Johnson – or yet another genius decision by Knaus and the best team in NASCAR, leading to their fifth title in as many years.
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