State Farm Safety Mail: Don't penalize Knaus for caring about his driver
Jeff Hammond / FOX Sports
Posted: 24 hours ago 8/10/05
Derek from Las Vegas, Nevada: After Jimmie Johnson hit the wall at the
Brickyard and the car caught fire, crew chief Chad Knaus went over the
wall without a helmet to try to get Jimmie out. Isn't this a violation of
the rules that states that you must wear a helmet on pit road?

Jeff Hammond: It's sad when rules get in the way of common sense. I hope
that common sense and a passionate move by a crew chief to protect his
driver is not misconstrued as a flagrant rules violation.
Other people who had helmets may not have realized what was happening
quickly enough to get the driver out of harm's way fast enough. I commend
Chad Knaus for throwing caution to the wind and maybe risking injury for
the benefit of his driver. Knaus cares about Johnson very dearly, but I
think he would feel that way about any driver.
I don't think he would have reacted differently if it had been Mark
Martin, Robby Gordon or anybody else sitting there. I hope that NASCAR
gives him an attaboy and a rules reminder.

The 48 car had a problem that didn't allow them to get through inspection.
From the end of practice at 10:30 a.m. to the beginning of qualifying at 3
p.m., there was adequate time to prepare the car and get it inspected.
NASCAR felt like something was going on that wasn't fair and equitable as
far as the rest of the competitors were concerned.

--
Crusader