Four greatest crew chiefs in NASCAR history

Many great drivers have forged their legacy over the history of NASCAR but said drivers couldn't have done so without a great crew chief atop the pit box. Here are the four greatest crew chiefs in NASCAR history, in no particular order. 

Harry Hyde (56 wins, 1970 Cup Series champion)

How influential was Hyde's NASCAR career? It was Hyde that inspired Robert Duvall's iconic "Harry Hogge" character in Days of Thunder. Across a career that spanned from 1966 to 1993, Hyde worked with the likes of Bobby Isaac, Ken Schrader, Geoff Bodine and Tim Richmond. Hyde won the 1970 NASCAR Cup Series championship with Isaac and a slew of races with both Bodine and Richmond. 

After joining and helping save Hendrick Motorsports in 1984, Hyde's convoluted relationship with Richmond ended up forming the storyline for Days of Thunder, with the brash, flashy Richmond clashing with the blue-collar Hyde. But just as Cole Trickle and Hogge began to gel in the hit 1990 film, so too did Richmond and Hyde, as the pair won a slew of races before Richmond's untimely death in 1989. 

Dale Inman (193 wins, eight Cup Series championships)

Inman wasn't just the cousin of seven-time champion Richard Petty but the crew chief and mastermind behind Petty's success. Of the 193 Cup Series wins that Inman earned, 188 of them came with "The King" behind the wheel. The duo was nearly unstoppable, and as King Richard reigned, it was Prince Inman who stood loyally at his side, enduring the hardships the pair faced amidst family turmoil and a decline in performance in the early 80s led to Dale Inman leaving his cousin's team after Petty won his seventh Daytona 500 in 1981. 

Dale Inman then led Terry Labonte to the first of his two championships in 1984, getting the edge over his cousin by winning his eighth Cup Series title atop the pit box. 

Chad Knaus (82 wins, seven Cup Series championships)

Knaus and Jimmie Johnson became the Inman and Petty of the 21st century. From 2002 to 2018, Knaus and Johnson won 81 races together and won a record five consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championships from 2006 to 2010. Knaus' ingenuity — some of which was of questionable legality — was revolutionary, and he and Johnson were the first duo to "break" NASCAR's playoff format. The pair added a sixth championship in 2013 and a record-tying seventh in 2016. After being paired with William Byron in 2019, Knaus got Byron his first career Cup Series win at Daytona in August of 2020. He now serves as the Vice President of Competition for Hendrick Motorsports. 

Ray Evernham (47 wins, three Cup Series championships)

In the mid to late 1990s, there was no scarier sight in NASCAR than the No. 24 of Jeff Gordon. Evernham and Gordon were the team of the decade, winning 47 races and three Winston Cup titles from 1995 to 1998. It was Evernham who trained the "Rainbow Warrior" pit crew of Gordon's that etched their name in history and Evernham who paved the way for the great crew chiefs of the future, such as Knaus. He may not have won as many races or championships as others on this list, but had he remained atop the pit box, there's no telling how gaudy his numbers would be.