NASCAR Insider gives early morning sneak peek of Chad Knaus “overseeing” Hendrick Motorsports ace’s garage 

Hendrick Motorsports Vice President of Competition Chad Knaus was overseeing race preparations early this morning ahead of the Daytona 500. The season opener of the NASCAR Cup Series is scheduled to begin at 1:30 pm ET today, February 16.

NASCAR reporter Taylor Kitchen shared a picture of Knaus in Alex Bowman's No. 48 garage on social media. Bowman, who joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2016, finished second behind teammate William Byron at the 2024 Daytona 500.

"Chad Knaus is here this morning currently overseeing preparations in the No. 48 garage," Kitchen wrote.

Knaus is one of the most successful crew chiefs in NASCAR. He won seven championships with Jimmie Johnson and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January last year.

The 53-year-old moved to Byron's No. 24 team as crew chief in 2019 after 16 years with Johnson. Byron won his first race with him, the Coke Zero Sugar 400, the following year. But Knaus stepped down from his crew chief role later in 2020 and took the role of vice president of competition at Hendrick Motorsports.

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"It's a tough race to win" - Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman on Daytona 500

Alex Bowman finished second during the final 67th Daytona 500 practice session at Daytona International Speedway. He will start the race from the 19th row.

The 31-year-old has two top-five finishes and three poles at the Daytona 500. In 2024, Bowman finished 0.006 seconds behind the winner William Byron. The two Hendrick Motorsports drivers were in front but after a last-lap crash caused a caution, Bowman ended up second. He recently talked about his finish last year.

"It’s kind one of those things where you can’t do anything about it situations and yeah, it was what it was. Unfortunately, we didn’t win, but at least a teammate won. (Finishing) 1-2 in the 500 is really cool for Hendrick Motorsports and hopefully this year we can be on the other side of it," Bowman said (via hendrickmotorsports.com).

"It'd be super cool, obviously, to win. The 500 is really special and important. So, yeah, hopefully we can make it happen. It's a tough race to win. We've been close now a couple of times. The last two years we've been really good there in the race. Excited to get back there."

Last season, Bowman advanced to the Round of 8 after an 18th-place finish at the Charlotte Roval but was later disqualified. His car failed to meet the minimum weight during the post-race inspection. Bowman finished the NASCAR Cup Series season ninth in the final points standings with one win at the Chicago street race.