Click Here To Find Cool Nascar Items!

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson took home top honors for the Hendrick Motorsports camp in Sunday's Carfax 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.

That's not surprising, Johnson being a four-time defending champion of the series and all. What is surprising, though, is that Johnson took best-of-Hendrick honors at Michigan with a lowly 12th-place finish.

Thanks to the team's sub-par showing, the Cup series hasn't seen a Hendrick-owned Chevrolet finish in the top-five for four consecutive races. That span -- races at Indianapolis, Pocono, Watkins Glen and Michigan -- marks the first time since 2002 that Hendrick hasn't been represented in the top five for four consecutive weeks.

The last Hendrick top five was on July 10 at Chicagoland, when Jeff Gordon finished third.

Gordon, despite starting 36th after his worst qualifying effort in a year and a half, looked to be the one carrying the Hendrick banner at Michigan with a mid-race march that moved him to second. After a poor restart dropped him back, Gordon suffered a cut tire and enough contact from Jeff Burton to change the aerodynamic handling of his No. 24.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Click Here To Find Cool Nascar Items!

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Sprint Cup, NASCAR

The rain trickled from the sky while Jeff Gordon sat inside his parked black-and-orange, front-running No. 24 in turn one of Pocono Raceway, waiting for safety crews to clean up the unbelievable crash involving Kurt Busch and Elliott Sadler on lap 166 of Sunday's race.

Gordon, suddenly an experienced weatherman, tried to decode over his team's radio the rate of which the rain was falling -- hoping it would be enough to stop the race for good and give Gordon his first Sprint Cup Series win in more than 15 months.

The rain, though, subsided and the race resumed, exposing a weakness that has plagued his race team all season: the inability to close out a race.

The No. 24 ended up sixth after leading some 39 laps while Greg Biffle scooted away to break a losing streak of his own.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments