CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - He's frequently referred to as "Little Ray" in a not-so-subtle jab at his controlling nature and obsessive attention to detail.

But as crew chief Chad Knaus closes in on his second consecutive championship with Jimmie Johnson, the parallels between him and Ray Evernham aren't necessarily negative anymore.

After all, there are worse people to be compared to than the man voted NASCAR's all-time greatest crew chief.

"You've got to look at it from the positive side of it," said Jeff Gordon, who won three championships with Evernham as his crew chief. "Ray is very competitive. He's a great leader and doesn't like to finish second. Those are definitely qualities that (Knaus) has.

"I think (Knaus) walks with a lot of confidence through the garage in what he does. If you're going to be compared to a great crew chief and you're compared to Ray Evernham, I don't think that's a bad thing."

Being a crew chief can be one of the most thankless jobs in the garage. The guy on top of the pit box is blamed when the car doesn't handle correctly, blamed when a pit call backfires and never credited quite enough when the team salvages a decent finish.

The relationships rarely last long - Gordon has had three different people on top of his pit box since Evernham stepped down to become a car owner late in the 1999 season - because when a losing streak reaches double digits, and the chemistry goes bad, the crew chief is always the first to go.

And back in 2005, after Knaus and Johnson coughed away another shot at a championship, it seemed their partnership was headed in that direction.

Johnson had wearied of Knaus' intense approach, and Knaus was on the verge of burning out. Rumors swirled that Knaus was on his way out as head of the team he built from scratch before the 2002 season.

Team owner Rick Hendrick stepped in, calling the two together for a private meeting to hash out their differences and save the relationship.

"There was never any discussion of us splitting up. Rick was afraid we were going to kill each another at one point," Johnson said. "Being as close as we are, it's like a brothers relationship. And after '05, we both wanted it so bad, and when you want something so bad, and it slips through your fingers ... and it was boom, boom, boom, just driving us nuts.

"And Rick saw it, and sat us down, like `What? You guys don't want to go anywhere. You want to be together, so let's get this on the table and talk about some stuff."'

Hendrick pushed Knaus to lighten up a little bit and start utilizing his team members more. It wasn't necessary for Knaus to individually oversee every aspect of the race car, and delegating responsibility had to become a priority before Knaus alienated everyone around him.

Knaus vowed to change, but it wasn't until he was caught cheating during preparations for the 2006 season-opening Daytona 500 that he began to apply them to his work ethic and personal life. Suspended the first four weeks of the season, Knaus wasn't part of two victories - including the Daytona 500.

When he returned to the race track in March, there was a noticeable change in him. He was calmer, capable of delegating a bit and learned how to lean on his crew.

"I've been fortunate to work with Rick Hendrick and learn the most valuable thing you can learn, and that is simply use the people you've got," Knaus said. "Use the people you've got to the best of your ability, and the success will come. As long as the people have something at stake, you'll end up with a better product.

"And since 2005, I tried to live by that and work by that daily. And it's obviously working."

The new approach helped the team win its first championship last season, and headed into Sunday's season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Johnson needs only to finish 18th or better to win a second title. Should the No. 48 team pull it off, they'll become the first team since Gordon in 1997 and 1998 to win consecutive championships.

Knaus was on those crews, working under Evernham and absorbing everything he could. So when Knaus moved into his own crew chief job, the comparisons to Evernham were natural.

"I'm flattered. The guy's doing a great job," Evernham said. "But Chad is his own person and it takes a tremendous amount of sacrifice and commitment to do it at the pace he does it for as long as he has. It's not easy.

"Making the car go fast is one part of it, but holding all the different personalities of your race team together - egos, manage your driver, crew, sponsor, owner - do all those things is tremendous amount of pressure and it takes ultimate commitment and sacrifice to do that. He's made that. He deserves to be where he's at."

The 36-year-old Knaus isn't sure how long he can maintain the pace, and today's crew chief makes enough money that he doesn't have to spend 40 years on the road running a race team. But when he finally does step down, Johnson knows where his crew chief will be ranked.

"It's early in our career, and we have a lot of years ahead of us. But when Chad hangs up his hat, he'll be considered one of the best," Johnson said. 

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)