"The most current emotion is frustration": When Jimmie Johnson opened up on splitting with Chad Knaus

Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus, who had teamed up for 17 years, the longest driver-crew chief partnership in NASCAR, announced their split in October 2018. The duo had won 83 races and seven Cup titles together, but were separating for the following seasons.

Before the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Johnson reflected on the split and pointed out the core reason for the change during an exclusive with The Arizona Republic.

"A lot of those emotions came to reality months ago when we started addressing this change. The most current emotion is frustration. We're not running like we need to and, the crazy thing is, I see the effort on all sides. Just, for whatever reason, we are not getting the results. That's really the big piece why this change is happening," Jimmie Johnson said.

Johnson entered 2017 as a seven-time Cup champion and saw strong results with three wins in the first 13 races. However, the Hendrick Motorsports driver ended the season ranked 10th in points and with a career low of just 217 laps led.

The following season was a repetition and a gradual decline in performance. Johnson completed 36 races without a win and saw his first winless season in 17 full Cup seasons. By the end of 2018, he recorded only two top-five finishes and led only 40 of nearly 9,800 laps. Johnson saw the need for a fresh start.

"It hasn't been an easy thing to see through. The respect, the relationship, I have with Chad, his family, his history with my family, this is not an easy change to make. But I wouldn't be in the process of seeing this through if I didn't think it was going to be better for myself, and for all parties involved," Johnson said.

Johnson lost his only full-season sponsor, Lowe's, after the 2018 season. The Home-Improvement chain had backed him in the No. 48 car since he began racing full-time and was partnered with Knaus in 2002.

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Jimmie Johnson's change to new partners proved fruitless in 2019

After the split, Kevin Meendering was named Jimmie Johnson’s new crew chief for 2019, and Ally Financial became the team's new primary sponsor. Knaus took over the No. 24 car for the then-rookie William Byron. But the change was not smooth.

Johnson again went winless, missed the playoffs in 2019, and ended the year 18th in points. The 2020 season was the same, the No. 48 team stayed winless and missed the playoffs again. Johnson also matched his career-low 18th in the standings. He then stepped away from full-time Cup racing at the end of the decade, which brought an end to his full-time Cup career.

Now, the 49-year-old is the majority owner of Legacy Motor Club, for which he also competes part-time.