Pirate Galaxy » the boards, but Brownell is concern

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Chad Knaus will act as if this shot at a record-tying seventh championship is just another race, and that he has barely thought of what it means for his place in the record books with Jimmie Johnson.Knaus has already led Johnson to a record five straight titles, six overall, and is now aiming to be the first crew chief in history to win seven NASCAR titles with the same driver. Hall of Fame crew chief Dale Inman won eight, but not with one driver.Knaus will downplay this until the bitter end -- even if he hoists the championship trophy with Johnson on Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway.I guess I really dont know what I want my legacy to be, Knaus said Wednesday. I guess just to be remembered as a real racer, I guess, more than anything. I was a grass-roots racer from the Midwest who got an opportunity ... (and) was able to work my way up methodically. For people just to remember that I started out as a racer and ended as a racer is probably my biggest goal.Johnson will face defending series champion Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Carl Edwards on Sunday, with the highest-finishing driver winning the championship.If its Johnson, he will tie Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt as the only drivers with seven titles. But hell have it done it with a team that Knaus built from the bottom, and the No. 48 team would be the first to win seven titles with the same driver, crew chief and sponsor.Knaus admits that distinction would make it even more phenomenal.Its been an honor to be able to work with Jimmie, Lowes and Hendrick Motorsports throughout this portion of my career, he said. Being able to represent this company and our associates the way that we have has been a lot of fun. To Jimmie personally, obviously he is by far one of my best friends, and to be able to have seen him grow and mature into the driver and the family man that he is has been awesome. Its been a great ride.BACK-TO-BACKKyle Busch hand-picked Adam Stevens to be his crew chief when Joe Gibbs Racing made personnel changes after the 2014 season.The two had clicked working together in the Xfinity Series, and Busch felt Stevens could be the one to lead him to a championship. They succeeded last year, rallying from a deep hole after Busch missed a third of the season with injuries suffered at Daytona. Now they are back in the finale trying to become the first repeat winners since Johnson reeled off five consecutive titles.Stevens said he and Busch have not focused on the back-to-back opportunity.We havent talked about that specifically, but the chances to win a championship in this sport arent going to come every year, he said. When you get that chance, you want to make sure that youve turned over every stone and taken every turn that you can to try to make it happen.You know, back-to-back, or once every 10 years, or however often you can find yourself in this opportunity with a shot to win is colossal.OUTSIDERS VIEWDave Rogers has worked for Joe Gibbs Racing for 18 years. During that time, he watched Bobby Labonte win a championship, and was a team member on Tony Stewarts crew when Stewart won two titles. A crew chief change at JGR moved him off of Kyle Buschs team last year and Busch went on to win the title.Now Rogers is finally in the championship hunt on his own, with Carl Edwards, and hes ready to lead a team to a title he can call his own.Theres lots of experiences, successes and failures that prepare you for this, Rogers said. Theres a handful of championships that Ive witnessed. This is obviously the first time that Ive gone to Homestead personally as a crew chief prepared to race for the championship, but theres a winning pedigree here at JGR and everyones open notebook policy has prepared me well for this weekend.Rogers didnt make it to the finale as crew chief for Busch or Denny Hamlin. Edwards lost the 2011 championship to Stewart on a tie-breaker. They both feel like past experience has them prepared for Sunday.Weve both been in situations where weve come up short, and we know what its like to lose, Rogers said. Now we want to go down there and try to figure out how to win it. I know Carl was disappointed last year that he fell short. The 11 (Hamlin team) was disappointed last year that we fell short, but now were teamed up together, our first year together, were going down there with the option to win it, and were just excited about it.LESSONS LEARNEDJoey Logano and Todd Gordon thought they were ready to win a championship when they raced for a title in 2014.Then one bad pit stop ended their chances. With that experience behind them, Gordon believes they have the mental toughness to win the title.I think in 2014, that was when we went through this the first time. Not knowing what to do or what to expect or how it was going to flow out, the championship race, race weekend, he said. This time around ... I think its matters as usual.I feel a lot of calm from his feedback and what hes saying and what hes doing and the mannerisms. Hes all (about) just making this another race, and I think in a great position. Christian Vazquez Red Sox Jersey . 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Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. CLEMSON, S.C. -- Jaron Blossomgame scored a season-high 29 points to Clemson to a 93-65 victory over S.C. State on Tuesday to increase the Tigers win streak to five games.The Tigers (7-2) shook off a sluggish first half and a defensive effort that wasnt up to coach Brad Brownells standard to outscore the Bulldogs by 29 points in the second half.Really good offensive performance. Certainly the 17 assists and only two turnovers were big stats as well, Brownell said. We probably took too many 3s but other than that, I thought we played well (offensively) and that was the difference in the game.Shelton Mitchell scored 14 points and Donte Grantham added 13 for Clemson, which shot 52 percent in the first half.The Bulldogs (2-8) shot 52 percent and got 20 points from Eric Eaves, but they lost for the seventh time in the last eight games. S.C. State stayed in the game in the first 20 minutes and trailed by nine at halftime.I was pleased at the half with what we were doing offensively and defensively, S.C. State coach Murray Garvin said. At halftime, I was positive in the locker room and looking forward to seeing what we would do in the second half.The Tigers held a 10-point lead four minutes into the second half before they went on 12-4 run to go up 18 after a Gabe DeVoe 3-pointer with 13:05 to play.The Bulldogs would crawl back within 12, but another Clemson run pushed the lead to 20 after a Grantham dunk with 9:47 left in the game, and CClemson kept pouring it on offensively.ddddddddddddI dont think we defended well, Brownell said. Some of that is the mentality of our players.BIG PICTURES.C. State: Playing its eight game of the season away from home, S.C. State lost by at least 20 points for the fifth time already.Clemson: The Tigers will get Elijah Thomas, a transfer from Texas A&M, eligible for the first time this season in their next game. The 6-foot-9, 230-pound sophomore should make an immediate impact offensively and on the boards, but Brownell is concerned about his defense.STAT OF THE NIGHTClemson improved to 13-1 all-time against South Carolina State. The Bulldogs only win over the Tigers was a 71-68 victory in 1999.TIP-INSGarvin said he was told this week that the Bulldogs, who had a hard time finding teams to come to their building, have the second hardest schedule in the country. Clemson center Sidy Djitte grabbed 13 rebounds, his fourth game this season in double digits. Clemson scored in the 90s for the second consecutive game and third time this season.UP NEXTS.C. State will play just its fourth game in the state of South Carolina when it heads to Furman on Friday at 7 p.m.Clemson takes on Alabama in a neutral site game in Birmingham, Ala., on Sunday at 4 p.m. in the Tigers first of back-to-back contests against SEC foes. ' ' '