[media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”216″]
[/media-credit]Joins Darian Grubb as leaders for the KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* Crew Chief of the Year Honor
Roswell, GA (July 11, 2012) – Chad Knaus, crew chief for the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet driven by five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson, has been named the second quarter winner of the KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* Crew Chief Spotlight Award.
Knaus, who helped propel Johnson to two wins and a forward move to fourth place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings during the second quarter (nine races), joins fellow crew chief Darian Grubb as the leaders for the KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* Crew of the Year award. The third-quarter Spotlight Award winner will be announced on September 19th.
When engine woes at Talladega relegated Johnson to eighth in the championship hunt after the first race of the second quarter, Knaus, a former two-time KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* Crew of the Year, didn’t let the team hang their heads. Instead, they went on a tear in the next seven races, winning twice (Darlington and Dover) in addition to posting finishes of fourth, two fifths, sixth and 11th-place.
As a result of the team’s stellar performance, Knaus captured two KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* Crew Chief of the Race awards in the second set of nine races. They were voted on by the expert panel of Penske Racing Sprint Cup Series crew chiefs Todd Gordon and Paul Wolfe, along with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio anchor Claire B. Lang and FOX/SPEED analyst and former champion crew chief Jeff Hammond.
Knaus is being presented a large bundle of KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* products and a check for $2,000 as a result of winning the second quarter Spotlight Award. Each quarterly winner will be awarded the same prize during the 2012 season.
The crew chief with the most quarterly wins will be honored as the KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* Crew Chief of the Year and will be presented a $10,000 check at the end of the 2012 season.
“Thank you to KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* for recognizing the work of all of the crew chiefs in the garage,” said Knaus, whose team has two wins in 2012. “Overall we have had a great season. If you take out the plate races we have been pretty consistent putting up top-10 finishes. We have a couple of wins which will be key going into the Chase. That is our goal right now, to keep improving our finishes so we make the Chase and have a good starting spot for those final 10. The guys and Jimmie are doing all they can and I’m proud of the work that we’ve done so far this season.”
“Chad Knaus, as the No. 48 team’s crew chief and leader, earned the second quarter Spotlight Award because he has built and manages a team that thrives on keeping focused, and handles challenges through adversity,” said Lang, SiriusXM NASCAR
Radio anchor. “Every crew chief in the garage knows that to win the
KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* Crew Chief of the Year award – they’ll have to beat Chad Knaus week after week and they know that is no easy task.”
“Each and every year you can never count out Chad and the No. 48 team,” said Hammond, KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* crew chief representative and FOX/Speed analyst . “They started off the year with a hiccup at Daytona (involved in a wreck after one lap), then settled in with consistent runs. This team, however, isn’t satisfied until they win races, and they did that at two of the toughest places we race – Darlington and Dover. Chad knows what to do to make his team successful. I wouldn’t bet against them in 2012. It’s going to be a great race for the
KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* Crew Chief of the Year Award.”
Penske’s Wolfe, crew chief for Brad Keselowski of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, has three wins at Bristol, Talladega and Kentucky, along with two other top-five results in 2012. Gordon and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge have recorded a second-place finish at Martinsville, a pair of top-10s, and a pole position at Kansas thus far this season.
KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* Crew Chief Challenge Voting Panel
Gordon and Wolfe, along with Hammond and Lang, serve as the panel for the
KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* Crew Chief Challenge. Each week the quartet vote to determine The Crew Chief of the Race, based on which crew chief demonstrates the most outstanding strategy and ingenuity during each race. The winner won’t necessarily be the crew chief that goes to victory lane, but the crew chief that makes the biggest difference to their team.
The weekly winning crew chief receives a bundle of
KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* products. Each Crew Chief of the Week is in contention to be named one of the four KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* Crew Chief Spotlight awards and will be a guest on Lang’s “Dialed In” program on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 at 8 p.m. EST on Wednesdays throughout the season. The crew chief with the most quarterly wins will be honored as the KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* Crew Chief of the Year and will be presented a $10,000 check and the end of the 2012 season.
About KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL*
KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* partners with businesses to create Exceptional Workplaces for their employees and patrons. KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* helps transform workplaces making them safer, healthier, and more productive. Key brands in this segment include KLEENEX®, SCOTT®, WYPALL*, KIMTECH* and
JACKSON SAFETY*. KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL*, located in Roswell, Ga., is one of Kimberly-Clark Corporation’s four business segments and can be visited on the web at www.kcprofessional.com.
