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RICHMOND, Va. (April 30, 2010) – Crew chiefs Alan Gustafson and Chad Knaus have signed multi-year contract extensions with Hendrick Motorsports, the organization confirmed Friday.

During their tenure with Hendrick Motorsports, Gustafson and Knaus have become established crew chiefs in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Their teams finished the 2009 season ranked one-two in the championship standings.

Gustafson, 34, is in his sixth season as crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet and has nine wins, 49 top-five finishes, 83 top-10s and 10 pole positions heading into Saturday night’s event at Richmond International Raceway. The Ormond Beach, Fla., native joined Hendrick Motorsports 11 years ago as a chassis shop employee before being moved to the No. 5 team in 2000. He served as the shock specialist for two years and was named the lead engineer of the No. 5 car driven by Terry Labonte in 2002. In 2005, Gustafson took over as crew chief.

With Mark Martin behind the wheel in 2009, the No. 5 team finished second in the Sprint Cup championship standings after posting five wins, 14 top-five finishes, 21 top-10s and seven pole positions — all career-bests for Gustafson.

“I’m extremely happy,” Gustafson said of the extension. “I love this company. I love working for Hendrick Motorsports. I love Rick Hendrick (team owner) — everything he has done for me in my career — and to continue that on into the future is everything I’ve wanted. I truly love what I do.”

Now in his ninth season, Knaus is continuing his record-setting run as crew chief the No. 48 Chevrolet. With four consecutive Sprint Cup championships under his belt, the 38-year-old Rockford, Ill., native has etched his name in NASCAR’s history books. He also has 50 wins, 122 top-five finishes, 186 top-10s and 23 pole positions heading into Saturday’s race at Richmond.

Like Gustafson, Knaus’ NASCAR career began with Hendrick Motorsports. Knaus took his first job with Hendrick in 1993 working with the No. 24 Chevrolet and crew chief Ray Evernham. Knaus did everything from fabricating pieces to changing tires prior to leaving the organization in 1997. He became crew chief for driver Stacy Compton in 2001 before returning to Hendrick Motorsports the following year to establish the No. 48 team with then-rookie Jimmie Johnson.

Since partnering in 2002, Knaus and Johnson have turned into a dynamic duo, winning the most prestigious events on the NASCAR circuit, including the 2006 Daytona 500 and three Brickyard 400s (2006, 2008 and 2009) at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I’m pretty pleased, obviously,” Knaus said. “I’ve spent the majority of my life at Hendrick Motorsports, since 1993, and I’d have a hard time thinking I would ever go anywhere else. This (No.) 24 team and this (No.) 48 team are very important to me, and I’m glad to be a part of it. I hope I’m here for a long time to come.”

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By Jim Pedley
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(May 2, 2010)

KANSAS CITY, Kan.–What simply had to be the two best saves of the Camping World Truck Series season occurred at exactly the same time and within inches of each other Sunday afternoon at Kansas Speedway.

When the two trucks involved finally got pointed back in the proper direction, it was the one driven by Johnny Sauter that had the lead and would go on to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250.

VIDEO: See how they spun

The other truck involved, that of Ron Hornaday Jr., finished second but left its driver buzzing like a radio with a bad tube.

“You can’t tell me that Kansas didn’t like that one,” Hornaday, not generally known to be all that excited about a second-place finish, shouted as he entered the postrace interview room.

Sauter, wearing a very large and sticky smear of birthday cake on his fire suit, was equally excited. As well he should be.

“I bet it looked pretty cool on TV,” said Sauter, who turned 32 on Saturday.

With 13 laps to go, Sauter had the lead heading down the backstretch, but Hornaday pulled even on his low side. Hornaday’s truck suddenly hooked right—right into Sauter. Both spun simultaneously. With smoke pouring from the wheel wells of both trucks, they turned 60 degrees sideways.

The two drivers, who have a history of roughing each other up on the track and in the pits afterward, cranked the steering wheels and both executed highlight-clip saves.

“He got into me,” Sauter said. “I couldn’t help but sit there and think as I was trying to save it … that darn Hornaday got me again within a month’s time. But it all worked out. That was good. That was good for the fans.”

The victory was the first of the year for Sauter and moved him from 14th to fifth in the points standings.

Sauter said he felt good about his truck before it even arrived at Kansas. It was the same truck he used to win his first truck race last September in Las Vegas and finish 11th at Nashville the last time out.

Todd Bodine finished third and moved into second in the standings, 22 points behind Timothy Peters, who finished 23rd, six laps back.

Notes: Brian Ickler finished fourth and now has two top-five finishes in both of his starts for Kyle Busch Motorsports. … Rookie Austin Dillon had his best finish, sixth. … The race was stopped after 114 laps for more than 90 minutes by rain and hail.