USA TODAY International Edition
Horrible day for Hendrick
Team’s four drivers all finish outside top 25 at Michigan
BROOKLYN, MICH. On a day when Ford officials launched into a wild celebration of the car builder’s 1,000th victory in NASCAR, it seemed appropriate that the sport’s top Chevrolet team members were in the background, licking wounds.
Hendrick Motorsports, which opened the Quicken Loans 400 with four strong cars, ended Sunday at Michigan International Speedway with three of them in the garage and the fourth — driven by points leader Jimmie Johnson — limping home.
Johnson finished 28th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 37th, Kasey Kahne 38th and Jeff Gordon 39th. Johnson kept the points lead, but Earnhardt fell three spots to seventh, Kahne four spots to 12th and Gordon five spots to 16th.
The day marked an ugly landmark for Hendrick: the first time all four team cars finished outside the top 25 in eight years.
All four Hendrick drivers had potent cars Sunday, and three led laps in double figures. Two drivers were leading the race when trouble hit.
Johnson, whose team struggled with strategy issues and poor pit stops, still had a late- race shot to catch eventual winner Greg Biffle when he pushed his car too hard in the pursuit. He popped a tire with two laps to go and scraped the wall, ending his surge.
“Jimmie, I’m so sorry, buddy,” crew chief Chad Knaus told Johnson over the radio. “I totally ( messed you up) today. I’m really, really sorry. I’m embarrassed.”
Johnson called it a tough day, saying Knaus was too hard on himself.
“Our strategy was throwing some challenges at us today, and we just struggled with maintaining track position,” he said. “But we had a fast car, and I could drive up through there. And as soon as I’d get to first or second, a caution would come out, and then something would happen again and we’d lose track position.
“But we had a great race car, and I hate having that problem at the end. I had to run the car really hard to get through all those guys and must have worn through that right front tire with two or three to go.”
Earnhardt, who was hoping to find magic again at the track where he won last June, led 34 laps in his Man
of Steel- sponsored Chevy, thrilling his thousands of fans in attendance. He left the race with a blown engine 132 laps into the scheduled 200.
For Earnhardt, it was the second time in four races that he failed to finish because of engine issues.
“They’ll figure it out, and we’ll get it sorted, and we’ll be able to come back here and expect to run strong again,” Earnhardt said. “I just hate it. Hendrick Motorsports — they work harder than anyone in the business. They’re the best company in the business, and we ought to be out there running up front still. But we’ll get it eventually.”
Kahne, who led 14 laps, whacked the Turn 2 wall after apparently blowing a right- front tire on lap 105, ruining another promising day in a season in which Kahne has had great cars but bad luck. Kahne’s car caught fire, but he quickly climbed out and triggered the extinguisher.
Kahne had targeted a race win Sunday to honor the memory of his friend, Jason Leffler, who was killed in a sprint car dirt race Wednesday in New Jersey. Kahne was wearing a cap emblazoned with “LefTurn,” Leffler’s nickname.
“I was just going into the corner and — boom — it went straight into the wall,” Kahne said. “It was a hard hit.”
Gordon, who shares the record for top- five finishes at Michigan with 18, barely got started before his day was over. Seven laps into the race, Gordon’s car was seriously damaged when Bobby Labonte lost control of his Chevrolet and slid in front of Gordon. Gordon slammed into the side of Labonte’s car.
Gordon eventually returned to the track but failed to finish the race and was 148 laps behind at the end.
The season has been one of frustration for winless Gordon, who put himself in serious risk of missing the Chase for the Sprint Cup with his Sunday finish.
“It seems like we can run all day long when we can’t get the car right, but when we finally get the car right something like this happens,” Gordon said.