Jimmie Johnson said he and crew chief Chad Knaus laughed at the off-season rumors that Knaus was about to leave the Hendrick Motorsports team that fields the No. 48 Chevrolets for Johnson.

"I think it started banquet week," Johnson said. "He called me and asked if I fired him and my response back was, 'No, are you leaving?'"

Johnson did admit that he and Knaus were both frustrated near the end of the 2005 season as they again unsuccessfully chased a Nextel Cup title.

"Last year was tough at the end and we were frustrated," Johnson said. "I give Chad a lot of credit for how hard he was working. It just didn't give us the results that we wanted.

"I think...the rumors kind of generated from that. And really, there was not any internal talk, there was not any discussion about a different crew chief, ever, and those rumors were something that we kind of laughed about and joked about."

But Johnson said the team is determined to not let such rumors get started in 2006.

"This year we want to make sure that we're mentally able to make it through all 36 races and especially in the final 10, regardless if we're on top of the world or if we're going through a tough time," he said. "If we can stay even-keeled, I think we're going to make better decisions. And we were frustrated through the end of last season and I think that, you know, at times it hurt our decision-making process and that's something that we're really focused on this year."