CUP: Hendrick Drivers Struggle Through Troubles

Sprint Cup

CUP: Hendrick Drivers Struggle Through Troubles

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams of Hendrick Motorsports suffered at Michigan International Speedway...

Mike Hembree | Posted August 15, 2010 Brooklyn, MI

Jimmie Johnson had the best finish of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers at Michigan International Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Sunday was not the kind of day the Hendrick Motorsports juggernaut, winner of the past four Sprint Cup championships, expects to have with the Chase for the Sprint Cup just around the corner.

LINK> UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: CARFAX 400 - MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
PDF > UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS: CARFAX 400 - MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

You know it’s not a pleasant day for the sport’s most dependable team when its best finish is a 12th. Defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson recorded that finish and managed to stay in fifth in the Sprint Cup standings with three races remaining until the Chase starts.

The rest of the Hendrick group couldn’t challenge the top 15.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.., trying to keep fading Chase hopes alive, had a sour day with a 19th and dropped to 17th in points.

Jeff Gordon had a strong car and threatened at the front, but a late-race cut tire dropped him through the field like a rock, and he finished 27th. He remained second in points.

Mark Martin, rattling around at the edge of the Chase cutoff, smacked the wall early and limped home 28th, dropping from 12th in points and out of the Chase qualifying group to 13th. He trails 12th-place Clint Bowyer by 35 points entering Saturday night’s race in Bristol, Tenn.

Martin said aggressive driving cost him.

“The car was really fast on the last run,” he said. “It just took us the whole race to fix up my mistakes. I was real aggressive early in the race and got damage in the front. I’m real proud of the rebound the guys made.

“That was a case of me racing too hard too early for sure.

“Things started going wrong from the start, but we had a great team effort. We’ll keep pounding no matter what. We’re racing hard.”

Gordon started 36th and rallied to have one of the day’s best cars before meeting trouble late.

“We had a great run going, and I was really excited about how good the car was to be able to drive up from 36th, and I really thought we were going to give those guys a run for the win there,” Gordon said. “But, everything that could happen did happen. We cut the front tire and got damage to the right rear (tire). The vacuum system – we had a problem with that. I don't know if we caused that or if the system failed or what. We’ve never had a problem with it. Everything just went wrong there at the end.

“It’s a big, fast race track. Who knows what would have happened had we not had that cut tire. But the vacuum brake system might have failed us anyway. So, who knows what would have happened.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will likely miss the Chase. (Photo: Getty Images)

Johnson seemed relatively happy with 12th considering the day’s circumstances and said his team is ready to move forward in pursuit of a fifth straight championship.

“We overcame a lot today,” he said. “We started the race good and faded a little bit, and, in the middle of the race when things started to slip from us, we did a good job of keeping our heads in the game and not letting it beat us down and start making bad decisions.

“It's definitely not the finish we wanted, but I think it was a big victory in a lot of other areas. At a few races this year we’ve had some struggles, and you can all get frustrated and start making mistakes, but we kept our head in the game.”

LINK> UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: CARFAX 400 - MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
PDF > UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS: CARFAX 400 - MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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Mike Hembree

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