Danica Patrick's crew chief non-committal on 2016 plans
In her third full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Danica Patrick has shown some improvements from her first two years as driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.
Those improvements might not be enough for crew chief Daniel Knost to keep his job, however.
Speaking with FOXSports.com in an exclusive interview on Sunday morning in the Homestead-Miami Speedway garage, Knost -- who worked was crew chief for SHR's Kurt Busch for 33 races being tapped to call the shots for Patrick's team late last year -- was non-committal about what his role will be in 2016.
"I'm still working with the company on what all I'm going to be doing," said Knost, who has a doctorate degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech and worked as an engineer for SHR before becoming a crew chief. "I'm working with the company on what my future role is going to be for many years out."
Sitting 24th in points ahead of Sunday's season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400, Patrick was on pace to finish four spots better in the standings than she did in 2014, and three spots better than she did as a Sprint Cup rookie in 2013.
But while teammates Busch and Kevin Harvick made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and won multiple races this year, Patrick's No. 10 team and the No. 14 team of SHR driver/co-owner Tony Stewart have combined for just five top-10 finishes.
Patrick's last top-10 finish -- a ninth -- came all the way back in April at Bristol Motor Speedway. Her only other top 10 this season was a seventh, recorded two weeks earlier at Martinsville.
Speaking during Thursday's Championship 4 Media Day in Hollywood, Florida, Stewart promised "a lot of change" for his No. 14 team during the off-season.
Can we expect the same for Patrick's No. 10 bunch?
"We've got a good, solid group. I want to see most of that stay together," Knost said. "Inevitably there is some change in racing on all teams, and quite frankly, when you have a program like what Stewart-Haas has got, a lot of people are interested in what you're doing so it's hard to maintain a really good team for a long time, just because opportunities open up for people."
Looking back over the season, Knost sees some areas where his driver and team improved over 2014 -- and he sees other areas where there is still much room for growth.
"I think we had, quite frankly, a lot of potential that was unrealized," Knost said. "I wish we would have qualified better. We had times when we would put down a good qualifying lap in the first round and then we would struggle to go to the second round or the third round. I was happy that we could have speed in the car. I struggled with how to keep the handle on it. As far as the race, I think we've had some races where we've run well, we've been aggressive, and sometimes those are rewarded and sometimes you get run over by somebody or something happens.
"I think we've had better average speed. I think we definitely have better consistency. I think the team has grown a lot, I think Danica has really grown a lot as far as not only what she wants and feels in the car but being able to articulate that and communicate it to the engineers so that the practices become more effective and the race adjustments become more effective."
As for the inevitable pressure that comes with being the crew chief for Patrick -- one of NASCAR's most popular and scrutinized drivers -- Knost demurred.
"For me, the pressure that I feel most significantly is internal. I have very high expectations for myself; I always have. I always will. I'm my own harshest critic," he said. "When it comes to what people say on the outside, I tend to block it out and I try to shield the team from it, but it doesn't really impact us. It just becomes superfluous noise if you allow it to be. So I feel like as a person I thrive in pressure situations, and I think that's what you want if you have to make critical decisions is you want people that all come together and they pull the rope together and they focus when you're under pressure.
"So I don't really view it as a distraction or as an issue myself."
