It would have been unbelievable to most, if not all, NASCAR fans 17 years ago if someone would have said, "Someday, Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus will be inducted into the Hall of Fame together."
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But that is precisely what happened Friday night at the Charlotte Convention Center for Johnson and his crew chief Knaus, along with Donnie Allison, an original member of the "Alabama Gang."
"Congrats, brother," Johnson said to Knaus during his speech. "I'm so glad that we're able to go in on the same ballot."
That wouldn't have always been the case, though. It was back at the end of the 2005 season that Johnson and Knaus were barely on speaking terms and car owner Rick Hendrick was very close to splitting the duo up.
In a now-famous story, Hendrick invited Johnson and Knaus to a meeting, serving them a gallon of milk along with chocolate chip cookies on a Mickey Mouse plate.
"You guys act like kids, I'm going to treat you like kids," Hendrick told them. "With all you got going for you and you can't work it out, so if you're going to act like children, let's have some milk and cookies and we'll sit on the floor and have timeout."
"We were so frustrated because we felt like we should be in position to win the championship in 2005, and we weren't able to close the deal," Knaus recalled during an interview with The Associated Press. "It was more about frustration not having the success as opposed to having emotions toward one another. So, we just had to get that squared away and understand that."
After the milk-and-cookies meeting, Johnson and Knaus went on to win their first Cup title together in 2006, then consecutively from 2007 to 2010 — a record unlikely to be broken. The duo also won the 2006 and 2013 Daytona 500s, four Brickyard 400s, four Coke 600s, four all-star races and two Southern 500s — a victory tally the eventually included 83 wins.
During the induction, Hendrick harkened back to the milk-and-cookies incident when he walked onstage, along with Hendrick executive Jeff Gordon, holding a jug of milk and a plate of cookies.
"He's the best driver I ever raced against," Gordon later said. "I know what the resources were. I knew the race cars. I knew all those things were also there for me and I couldn't do — any of the other Hendrick teams couldn't do — what they were doing at that period of time. And I'll forever say that they're the best I've ever gone up against."
Johnson added championships in 2013 and 2016, tying the record of seven held jointly by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Johnson's last Cup win came on June 4, 2017, marking the 16th consecutive year that he and Knaus had teamed to win at least two events.
"Jimmie helped me find out who I was by honestly believing in me," Knaus said during his induction speech. "You have taught me there is much more to life than racing, even if it has taken me many, many years to understand that."
Johnson will try to break his 133-race winless streak in the upcoming Daytona 500, seeking his first victory for a team not led by Knaus. Johnson has nine Cup races planned this year in a part-time driving role with Legacy Motor Club, a team he co-owns with Maurice Gallagher.
In addition to Allison, Johnson and Knaus, the NASCAR Hall of Fame honored Janet Guthrie — the first woman to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500 — as its Landmark Award winner for her "significant contributions to the growth and esteem of NASCAR."
