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MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Ten years after Ray Evernham's revolutionary career as a crew chief ended, a protégé is about to break one of his long-standing records.

Chad Knaus, one of six crew chiefs in the Chase who have worked for Evernham at some point in their career, is nearing the victory total Evernham amassed with Jeff Gordon.

Evernham and Gordon -- NASCAR's gold standard in the 1990s -- combined to win 47 races and three championships. Knaus and Jimmie Johnson have won three titles and 44 races together (Johnson won two more races when Knaus was suspended at the start of the 2006 season). Johnson and Knaus are also halfway to a record-breaking fourth consecutive series crown heading into today's Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

"They are one of the best teams in motorsports history,'' said Evernham, an analyst for ESPN/ABC. "They are the best team in motorsports right now. Bar none.''

Evernham says the success of Knaus and Johnson goes beyond the resources and personnel at Hendrick Motorsports, which has the top three cars in the point standings.

"They have figured out how to pace themselves, how to stay together &ellipses; and then put their focus on the Chase,'' Evernham said.

Johnson's victory last weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway -- his third in the first five races of the Chase -- was revealing because of what happened early in the race. Johnson snapped at Knaus on the radio.

Frustrated as his car's handling went away and he fell from first to fifth, Johnson told Knaus that if he continued speaking in the same tone Johnson would come down pit road and strangle him.

While some might have read the comment as a crack in their working relationship, it actually showed how well the two work together.

"The fact that I can be a smart (aleck) to him like that and then come back and win the race shows the faith that we have in one another and the honesty that we have in our relationship, our working relationship," Johnson said after that race.

Evernham can relate to such flare-ups.

"Jeff and I used to say things on the radio back and forth that sometimes his mom would hang up the headset and think we were arguing,'' Evernham said. "We weren't arguing. We understood that. I knew when I pushed him too far, he would push back. If he pushed me too far, I'd push back. That's the chemistry people talk about."

It's created a combination difficult to beat back then and now. Johnson has won five of the last six races at Martinsville. Go back further and the success grows more remarkable. Johnson has won 10 of the last 20 races in the Chase, a streak that started at this track in the 2007 fall race.

"Jimmie and Chad, I think they're that perfect combination,'' former teammate Brian Vickers said. "Just like Ray and Jeff were.''

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com