Jimmie Johnson seeking to recapture championship magic

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Having accounted for six Sprint Cup championships and 70 victories, Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus are among the best driver-crew chief tandems in NASCAR history.

Like many relationships, however, eventually Johnson and Knaus will part, and according to Johnson, in all likelihood the separation will be Knaus’ doing. Not that Johnson is surprised, considering the 24/7 nature of being a crew chief, which makes burnout commonplace.

“I know that his time is probably going to expire before mine, just the dog years that crew chiefs live in,” Johnson said Thursday at Daytona 500 Media Day. “We’ve always talked about that, and it’s been kind of open.”

As the No. 48 team slogged through a frustrating 2014, which saw Johnson record a career-low average finish and the fewest amount of top-fives since his rookie year -- even in spite of four victories -- rumors began circulating Knaus would walk away.

That buzz only grew louder as the testiness increased between Johnson and Knaus -- especially palpable during in-race communication. But just as he has for the past 13 years, Knaus will be atop the 48 pit box when the green flag waves on the 2015 season.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to get him to hang on as long as I can,” Johnson said. “I keep joking with him trying to prime the pump early like, ‘Hey, buddy, we started this together, let’s end it together.’ I don’t know that I’ll be lucky enough to get that.”

If 2015 is the swan song for Knaus, Johnson would like to send him out on top. A seventh championship would move him into a tie with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for most premier series titles.

To accomplish their goal, Johnson and Knaus will have to regain the chemistry that was the backbone of five consecutive championships from 2006-10 and a sixth two years later. How they go about doing that is an issue Johnson has thought a lot about.

“That’s what we’ve worked hard on all winter to identify and get back in that space,” Johnson said. “I wish we could have bottled it somehow and maintained it because it was magical, and there’s just certain pairings of driver‑crew chief combinations that work, that have that magic.”

Making the quest for another championship even more challenging is the revamped Chase for the Sprint Cup format. Though still critical, the consistency that was Johnson’s specialty is no longer essential, as NASCAR’s playoff now encompasses four segments with the field narrowing every three races. (A year ago Johnson was eliminated in Round 2 following three straight subpar weeks.)

Like any playoff structure, there are pros and cons. Eventual champion Kevin Harvick was one of the more dominant drivers throughout 2014, whereas Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin, who each advanced to the championship race, struggled until getting hot in the Chase.

“You can sneak in (the Chase), win at the right time and have it not be the most consistent year and then face criticism that you lucked your way into it -- you just won a race and won the championship,” Johnson said. “There is that scenario and that is out there, but all the other scenarios it’s much more difficult.”