Knaus grew up around the racetracks of the Midwest helping his father, John, race against the likes of Mark Martin, Alan Kulwicki, Rusty Wallace, and Dick Trickle.
By the time he was 14, Knaus served as crew chief during his father's Rockford Speedway championship season.
A few years and seven track championships later, Knaus moved to North Carolina in 1991 to pursue a job in national stock car racing.
24 Hendrick Motorsports team led by crew chief Ray Evernham and raced by driver Jeff Gordon.
Serving as a rear tire changer on the original Rainbow Warriors pit crew, Knaus was a part of the 1995 and 1997 championship teams.
After Park returned to the team from his injuries, Knaus and Waltrip moved to Tyler Jet Motorsports.
In 1999, Knaus moved to Melling Racing after Evernham, who had just left Hendrick Motorsports, invited him to lead the Dodge development team.
48 team finished second in the Driver's Championship after earning two pole positions and winning three races, including the Coca-Cola 600.
However, the team quickly rebounded with a week five win at the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway.
Subsequent victories at the Coca-Cola 600 and the Pocono 500 helped solidify their place in the NASCAR Chase for the Cup towards the end of the season.
The second victory at the Subway 500 in Martinsville on October 24, 2004, was marred by tragedy when Rick Hendrick's son, Ricky, nieces and brother were killed in an airplane crash en route to the race.
Knaus and Johnson led the Hendrick charge that saw the championship battle come down to a race between themselves and teammate Jeff Gordon.
In 2009, Knaus shared 13 top-fives, 20 top-tens, six wins, and 1 DNF with Johnson as they won their record fourth championship in a row.
But Johnson had to retire on lap 225 of the race with issues with the rear gear and ended their title hopes.
Unfortunetly, their hopes of winning a record-tying 7th Cup Series Championship vanished quickly after a broken driveline and a 41st-place finish at Dover eliminated Johnson from the chase.
Despite this, Johnson would win and would automatically give him and Knaus a chance at Homestead-Miami Speedway to compete for their 7th Cup Series Championship.
Johnson would qualify 14th for the race but had to go to the rear of the field for an unapproved body modification which meant he started in 40th.
But Johnson wasn't the most competitive car as he was in or near the top 5 for most of the race and could not catch up to the other Championship contenders in Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Joey Logano.
[17] In September 2020, it was announced Knaus would step down from his crew chief role at Hendrick Motorsports and become the team's vice president of competition.
While working for Hendrick Motorsports, Knaus was accused of cheating after Jimmie Johnson's 2006 Daytona 500 qualifying run.
He had made an illegal adjustment to the rear window, which resulted in his suspension from Cup Series events until March 22.
[19] Knaus again found himself at the center of controversy during the road race debut of NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow.
[20] In February 2012, Knaus was once again accused by NASCAR officials of a rules violation involving the #48 car of Jimmie Johnson after it failed pre-race inspection for the Daytona 500.
[21] On March 20, 2012, the chief appellate officer of NASCAR rescinded the suspensions and the docked driver points but left the financial penalty in place.
[22] Knaus was a regular commentator on NASCAR Performance, a program that was broadcast each race weekend on Speed.