CONCORD, N.C. -- Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus made NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship history this season, but it wasn't the first time the pair has accomplished that feat.
Following Johnson's 2010 championship, the driver had earned five titles in a row (beginning in 2006), which is the most consecutive championships any driver in the series has won.
"When we went on that string of five championships, it changed a little bit significantly for me because it became the expectation," No. 48 team crew chief Knaus said. "It became, 'This is what should happen when you go to the racetrack. You should win these races, you should win the championship.'"
The No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet SS team lost their championship streak in 2011. However, two seasons later in 2013, they earned their sixth title.
Now, just three years later, Johnson and Knaus have made history again by winning their seventh championship, tying Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.
"Coming in here with an opportunity in Homestead to battle for the seventh championship, quite honestly, I came into the racetrack as calm as I think I've ever been at a race at Homestead," Knaus said, "Knowing that we had won five, that we had nothing to prove, we were already huge successes. All we had to do was go out there and race."