Currently employed at Hendrick Motorsports as the crew chief, Chad Knaus net worth increased as he became the only NASCAR crew chief to record 5 consecutive championships.
Born on August 5, 1971, Chad Knaus is an American NASCAR crew chief. In his 10 years career at Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 48, Knaus helped driver Jimmie Johnson to 10 top six finishes. The wins include 5-consecutive Sprint Cup Titles in the years 2006-2010. Thus, the efforts hiked Chad Knaus net worth and recognition. The crew chief for NASCAR for 12 years, Chad Knaus has also worked for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, Melling Racing, Tyler Jet Motorsports, and Hendrick Motorsports.
Chad Knaus was born on August 5, 1971 in Rockford, Illinois. He got introduced to racing as he followed his father Anthony John Knaus around the Midwest tracks. Moreover, he used to help his father race against Mark Martin and Alan Kulwicki. Therefore, Knaus relationship with racing was quite old. He assisted his father as crew chief in Rockford Speedway Championship. As a result, the power combination of father and son won them the Great Northern Series championship in addition to securing second position in NASCAR Winston Racing Series.
After a few years, Knaus left for North Carolina as he got a job in national stock car racing. Soon after Hendrick Motorsports team hired him from 1993 to 1997 where he leaped to managerial position managing the entire chassis and body construction program. Further, Chad Knaus net worth hiked as he became the part of 1995 and 1997 championship series.
In the year 1997, Knaus joined Dale Earhardt Inc. where he served as a car chief. The following year, he moved to Tyler Jet Motorsports. With the dedication and focus, Chad Knaus got a call for leading Dodge, Melling Racing in the year 1999. So, he worked with Melling Racing driver, Stacy Compton together. Since they worked together very well, Knaus got the position of crew chief for Compton in 2001.
The combination of Compton and Knaus was so amazing that they qualified third at Daytona in July 2001. They scored one top 10 and 5 top 15 finishes. Knaus got back to Hendrick Motorsports for 2002 season where he became crew chief for Jimmie Johnson. The Knaus Johnson worked so well that they scored 3 race wins, 6 top-5 positions, 21 top-10 and 4 pole positions. They finished second in Drivers’ Championship 2003 winning three races including Coca-Cola 600. Since the combination was so powerful, Johnson and Knaus ended up winning 14 top-5 positions and 20 top-10 positions successfully.
However, 2004 started with some disappointments for the team even though they got the pick up soon at week 5 winning at Carolina Dodgers Dealers 400. Chad Knaus net worth rose with each of their wins while the team won Pocono 500 and Coca-Cola 600. The winner of Subway 500, the team finished second in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Even though the pair endured crash in season 5, they made it to the win of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2006.
The next year, the pair took home their second championship with series best 10 wins. This gave Chad Knaus net worth a good lift and led the Hendrick to the dominating position. In 2008, they broke NASCAR record with 3 successive championships. Moreover, in 2009, they shared mutual win with 13 top-5, 20 top-10, 6 wins and 1 DNF.
Violation of Rules and Suspension
Though Chad Knaus net worth had gone up due to his professionalism, his carelessness had also caused some serious issues that damaged his career. He got suspension for the first time in 2001 for not wearing seatbelt. Similarly, while he was with Jimmie Johnson, he was accused of making illegal adjustments in rear window in 2006. Consequently, this led his suspension from Cup series events.
Net Worth, TV Appearances and Wife
The NASCAR crew chief Chad Knaus net worth is 5 million USD. After winning a number of championships consecutively, he has become one of the well-known crew chiefs.
The regular commentator of NASCAR Performance, Chad Knaus net worth and recognition also went high as he appeared in a number of television commercials. The other recognitions are from his voicing for NASCAR 08 and NASCAR 09 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
He is a married man with wife named Chandra. The couple married in 2004 and is still together. Since then, Chandra has supported a lot in Knaus’s career and life.
The crew chief Chad Knaus started with the work from the early amateur days. Later, he kept on growing becoming one of the well-known crew chiefs today, especially for his contribution in winning 5 consecutive record breaking championships.