Suspension ends for Johnson's crew chief

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Crew chief Chad Knaus returned to the track Friday after a four-week suspension, greeted by a cold rain that washed out all activity at Bristol Motor Speedway.

"I'm ready to get the car out there," he said, sipping coffee. "It's been a long time."

NASCAR suspended Knaus for the season's first four races after finding improper changes to Jimmie Johnson's car during Daytona 500 preparations. He had to watch Johnson win the Super Bowl of racing on TV.

"The Daytona 500 was tough, tough, tough," he said. "I am not going to lie to you, I had a tear in my eye."

It didn't get any easier as Johnson went on to finish second the next week in California, win another race at Las Vegas, then finish sixth last week in Atlanta to take a 50-point lead in the standings.

The Hendrick Motorsports team that Knaus built from the ground up was thriving without him, and there was nothing he could do to join the party.

"Man, it was tough. But it is what I had to deal with," Knaus said.

His candor and emotion Friday was a clear shift from his unrepentant attitude a month ago when Hendrick had him publicly discuss the suspension during a national conference call. He deflected several opportunities that day to take responsibility for Johnson's car failing an inspection.

Given a chance again Friday, Knaus had clearly softened.

"If it doesn't fit the template at any point in time, it is wrong," Knaus said. "It is wrong. I hate that. I regret that. Sometimes you just push too hard. There are procedures that you follow in our industry, as a competitor you try to evolve with that and try to find an advantage on your competition.

"That is what I did and they didn't like it. So I watched on TV for a while and read the papers."