“Here's some milk and cookies”: When Rick Hendrick intervened Championship-winning duo Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus’s fallout

Rick Hendrick once helped Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus sort out their differences before they went on to win seven NASCAR Cup Series championships together.

Johnson, who debuted in NASCAR in the early 2000s, won many races but failed to earn a championship. Johnson and his crew chief, Chad Knaus, finished second twice and were frustrated to the point that their partnership almost fell apart by 2005. Team owner Hendrick stepped in with an unusual idea that helped them talk openly and reset their approach.

Earlier this year during a session with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Rick Hendrick recalled the incident and said:

"Sometimes brothers, guys who are close, seem to have most friction. I brought them in and I said, 'It’s amazing that you’ve had the success you’ve had but now we are at a point where we are talking about Chad, you having another driver. Jimmie, having another crew chief.'"

"I had this gallon of milk and I put it on the table, here’s some milk and cookies. Why don’t we have some milk and cookies, sit on the floor and have a timeout?' They started laughing. I got up, started to walk out and said, 'Why don’t you guys talk about? Let’s talk through everything. What you don’t like and what you like. Let’s see if we can’t fix this," he added.

Hendrick and Jeff Gordon even surprised Johnson and Knaus with milk and cookies at their 2024 NASCAR Hall of Fame induction.

"We left that meeting and changed our course in how we worked" - Jimmie Johnson after his "milk and cookies" meeting with Rick Hendrick

Rick Hendrick (left) congratulates Jimmie Johnson (right) after winning the AAA 400 Drive For Autism at Dover International Speedway. - Source: Imagn

The No. 48 team won its first championship in 2006 after Rick Hendrick's meeting. The team shared responsibilities and involved the engineers and the car chief more. Jimmie Johnson, who had taken on too much himself, changed how the team worked together.

"No joke, we left that meeting and changed our course in how we worked, the way Chad worked. We went in a different direction. And then ‘06 takes place, we come out of the gate, win the Daytona 500, win our first championship, win the next championship, on and on and on. So I think there was a lot of weight in that meeting that we had," Johnson said (via NY Times).

Knaus also revealed that he was embarrassed about needing the meeting.

"I walked out of that meeting and I remember vividly I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed at the fact that Mr. (Rick) Hendrick had to sit us down – two grown men with the opportunity of a lifetime and we were sitting there just letting it go away. I’m going to take the advice of the man who has mentored us and given us an opportunity to change the structure of the 48 team," Knaus said (via NY Times).

The changes led to their incredible run of five straight championships from 2006 to 2010.