Johnson, crew chief Knaus join Allison in Hall of Fame

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jimmie Johnson’s dreams first came true when he was given a motorcycle for Christmas at age 4.

That was when he fell in love with racing.

Johnson was honored for his career on Friday night when he and crew chief Chad Knaus, who he teamed up with to win a record-tying seven Cup championships, were inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

The sport’s dominant duo, both first-ballot inductees, joined Donnie Allison, an original member of the “Alabama Gang,” in a celebration at the Charlotte Convention Center as part of the Class of 2024. Janet Guthrie, the first woman to race in both the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500, was inducted as the Landmark Award winner for contributions to NASCAR.

“Some Hall of Famers said that the moment is going to get real. I think it just happened,” Johnson said, holding back tears. “This is the highest honor to stand alongside our sport’s greats in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.”

Johnson won 83 Cup races — tied for sixth most in NASCAR history — in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet, all but two of them with Knaus as crew chief. Knaus, now the vice president of competition for Hendrick, was suspended for two of Johnson’s wins, including one in the Daytona 500.

Their five straight Cup championships from 200610 stand as a NASCAR record.

“We clicked right away with similar interests and everything to prove,” Johnson said. “We could read each other’s minds . ... His work ethic and ability to bring the best out in me was most impressive.”

Then he looked over at Knaus and said, “Congrats, brother, I am so happy we are able to go in on the same ballot.”

Knaus grew up in the Midwest working on cars and had a goal of becoming a crew chief by the time he was 30, living by the motto of “work hard from morning until night.”

With the help of Hendrick crew chief Ray Evernham, he got that chance at 28.

“My father taught me what it meant to have the best race cars, to have the proper maintenance schedule, to never settle for second, to continuously learn and to always push the rules,” Knaus said, before adding with a laugh, “I kind of stuck with that last one a lot.”

Knaus also thanked Johnson.

“Jimmie helped me find out who I was by believing in me,” Knaus said. “You have taught me there is much more to life than racing — even if it has taken many, many years to understand that.”