“You want mine?”: HMS legend recalls when Jeff Gordon’s pit crew saved the day for Jimmie Johnson

In 2010, Hendrick Motorsports handed Jeff Gordon's pit crew to Jimmie Johnson for the final two races of the Sprint Cup Series season. Years later, Steve Letarte opened up on the incident and recalled how HMS made a major change that helped Johnson win the championship that season.

Letarte, who was the crew chief of Gordon's #24 Chevrolet, recently touched upon the incident that took place 14 years ago during the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

Gordon's pit crew was in stunning form that season, and as a result, Chad Knaus, who was the crew chief of Johnson's #48 car did not think twice before benching his team for the day.

Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon's team raced under Hendrick Motorsports and had close ties. Therefore, the two teams did not have to go through a massive shake-up to make the swap. On top of that, Gordon was out of the championship race that year, which made the swap less complicated.

"At Texas, and we were both pretty good and the #24 wrecks. #48's running for the championship," Letarte said recalling the 2010 incident in the Dirty Mo Dough with Steve Letarte podcast on October 25, 2024. "We go to the garage, looked at our car can't be fixed. I walk up to the pit road, just really to tell Chad (Knaus), 'Hey, I'm going to get something to eat; I'll see you at the airport, right?'

"So I walk up to the pit box, climb up there like, 'Hey what the hell is wrong with your sh*t?' You're running like fifth or sixth, every time I climb up here. 'My pit crew stinks.' All right, you want mine?' asked Letarte to Johnson, as narrated by the former.

"Really? We've been rock solid like last ten weeks, you want me to do it? 'Yeah sure,' that's a good idea,' So I walk down the garage, gathered my guys up and said, 'Hey mate, you guys up for this? They were like 'yeah," concluded the former Hendrick Motorsports pit crew.

Gordon's #24 crew helped Johnson finish ninth in the race, as Denny Hamlin claimed the victory. Interestingly, Jimmie Johnson went on to secure that season's championship and picked up his fifth Cup Series title.

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Jimmie Johnson lauded Jeff Gordon's 24-crew team following the race

Sprint Cup Series drivers Jimmie Johnson (48) and Denny Hamlin (29) during the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (Source: Imagn)

Following the conclusion of the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson praised the work done by the #24 car's pit crew, under the leadership of Crew Chief Steve Letarte.

"We had some issues on pit road, and I feel terrible for my guys and that we had to make a change," Johnson told the media after the race. "But the 24 guys came in and did a great job."

"With everything on the line, we have to perform and we have to do our jobs. We've been having some issues and [Sunday] wasn't going any better, and with the 24 out of the race, it was a good opportunity for us to try it," he added.

Notably, this wasn't the only crew swap that season as Richard Childress Racing handed over Clint Bower's pit crew to Kevin Harvick. This happened after Harvick shared his displeasure with his crew's pit road performance.