DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. _ When Daytona Speedweeks kicked off last weekend, Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus ended up where they always seem to end up, in Victory Lane celebrating another accomplishment in a career full of them.
The only difference: For the first time in 17 years, they weren't doing so together.
Knaus tinkered with the No. 24 Chevrolet as the crew chief for up-and-coming hotshot William Byron. He won the pole.
A few hours later, Johnson drove his new-look No. 48 Chevy around the crash he caused late in the Clash. He won the race.
It's too early to make any grand declarations about what those performances mean for the future of NASCAR's former power couple, the driver-crew chief combination that won 81 races and gave Johnson a record-tying seven Cup Series championships. But heading into Sunday's season-opening Daytona 500, it looks as if both sides are in position to continue adding to their Hall of Fame resumes from opposite ends of Hendrick Motorsports.
"I think that fresh start inside the team has just been a weight lifted off us," Johnson said. "We had a lot of pressure on ourselves to succeed."
And last year, they weren't getting it done.
For the first time since he teamed with Knaus in 2002, Johnson went winless. The pair finished 14th in points _ their worst together.
The struggles were a continuation of a downward trend. Their 2016 championship was the only time they finished in the top nine in points over the last five years.
"When we weren't succeeding, that just created more pressure, internal pressure, and just kind of had us in our own slump of sorts," Johnson said.
To get out of that slump, the two separated. It was like Bill Belichick and Tom Brady splitting _ except the Patriots duo has one fewer title.
Hendrick sent Knaus to accomplish the same feat he did with Johnson 17 years ago: Turn a talented youngster into a star.
In only seven years, Byron has grown from a racing rookie whose only driving experience came through iRacing simulators to the pole of NASCAR's most prestigious race. Along the way, he won the Xfinity Series in 2017 and was the Cup Series' top rookie last year.
But he's also young. At 21, he's less than half the age of Johnson (43), and many of his formative racing memories were of Knaus and Johnson winning five consecutive titles together from 2006-10.
"It was fun, just to watch him dominate races and now be a part of what we have going on," Byron said.
Although it's unfair to expect Byron to come close to matching Johnson's success, there is already one similarity: Both won the pole for their Daytona 500 debuts with Knaus.
"It's kind of cool, it really is," Knaus told reporters after qualifying. "This is really special for me."
Johnson has a chance to make this season special, too, with a new crew chief (Kevin Meendering) and primary sponsor (Ally, in place of Lowe's). A historic eighth series crown remains a realistic possibility.
Johnson has won without Knaus before. The driver's 2006 Daytona 500 victory came after Knaus was suspended for rules violations.
But this time is different. It's a long-term divorce of this sport's Brady-Belichick.
If it fails, it could ding the reputation of NASCAR's top driver and stunt the growth of one of its rising stars. But if it succeeds, Johnson and Knaus will keep making the same, albeit separate, trips to a place they frequented together for almost two decades.
Victory Lane.
