Chad Knas Joins Melling Racing as Crew Chief

(Concord, NC) October 23 - 2000-NASCAR Winston Cup team owner, Mark Melling, announced today the addition of Chad Knaus as Crew Chief for the #9 Kodiak team.

"Chad comes to us with a wealth of knowledge," said Melling. "We're obviously very pleased that he has decided to guide our team as we transition into the Dodge program in 2001, and for the rest of this year, as well."

Knaus joins Melling Racing after working at Evernham Motorsports as manager of the Dodge development program. Before that, he had been a Car Chief at Tyler Jet Motorsports in 1999, and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in 1998. From 1993-97, he performed body and chassis construction for Hendrick Motorsports under Ray Evernham.

"What intrigues me," said Knaus, " is that we've got such a young organization with so much potential. Our driver is young, our owner is young, I'm young, and most of our guys are young. I think that closeness in age will help us. I know this team has gone through some tough times," he continued, "but I am determined to build Melling Racing back to where it used to be," he continued. "The ingredients are there. We've got technical help from Dodge, a primary sponsor in Kodiak, and moral support from the Melling organization."

"Chad and I have the same philosophy," said driver Stacy Compton, "and with his level of experience and knowledge, I just know it's going to be a good thing for Melling Racing. Next year is a big transition year for us and I think Chad will certainly make that transition to Dodge a lot easier.