Answer:
He has four things going for him: He’s a fine driver. He’s a consistent driver. He’s a lucky driver. And of course, there’s always his ace-in-the-hole; Chad Knaus (arguably the best current crew chief in Cup, maybe the whole of NASCAR). Now this isn’t so easy. Rigged? Totally fixed? No. However, it used to be – and I think still occurs occasionally – that yellows for “debris” are sometimes suspect. Same-o with speeding on pit road violations. Same with timing for throwing yellows. You can’t prove it, but in the last 25 years I’ve seen a lot of questionable calls – from the outside as a fan, and from the inside as a NASCAR contractor. If there is an edge given to anyone, it’s done in a way so as not to be very noticeable or obvious. Of course you must factor in my bias. I’ve seen them from the inside and much of what I saw, I didn’t like. Then again, I’ve been out of the game for over 10 years.