Brickyard Hopefully The Elixir for Struggling Hendrick Motorsports
July 23, 2016 | By Phillip B. Wilson
Jimmie Johnson admits he’s been pushing too hard, and he’s not the only one.
That’s what happens when an entire four-car team synonymous with NASCAR success sputters in an improbable slump. Owner Rick Hendrick’s four cars have failed to finish in the top 10 in the past three races entering Sunday’s Crown Royal presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard.
If there’s a reason for optimism, it’s the fact they’re at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Hendrick Motorsports entries traditionally thrive. Johnson has four wins at this track and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s replacement is the legendary Jeff Gordon, a record five-time Brickyard 400 winner. Gordon returns from retirement to extend his legacy as the only driver to compete in all 23 Brickyard 400s.
Asked about pressing, Johnson said, “Oh yeah. And that’s the problem. I’ve been at 110 percent and you make way too many mistakes there. And I think our team has, too.
“That’s one thing that we have recognized and we’re really going to try to dial back, to make sure that we run where we should. If we have a fifth-place car that week, let’s be sure to at least finish fifth. Maybe there’s some opportunities to give us a chance to win, but stop making mistakes. And I’ve got to do that, first and foremost.”
Johnson, a six-time Sprint Cup Series champion, turned the quickest lap in Friday’s opening practice and finished third overall on the grid after speeds were combined from the afternoon session.
“We love big events,” Johnson said. “That’s one thing about Hendrick Motorsports, we look at the (Daytona) 500, the 400, all big races as an opportunity and we’re excited for it.”
His teammates have some work to do, though. Rookie Chase Elliott’s best practice lap ranked 12th, Kasey Kahne came in 20th and Gordon was 25th out of 41 cars.
Despite the team’s recent struggles, Johnson is eighth in Chase points, Elliott 11th, Earnhardt 15th and Kahne 18th.
Hendrick drivers have amassed 11 series titles and 209 Sprint Cup race wins, but 11 races this season have piled up an alarmingly high number of destroyed cars, including 10 in a span of three races.
“It seems like when it rains, it pours,” Hendrick said. “At Daytona, I think we wrecked three or four cars. Then we went to Kentucky and wrecked again. We were in good shape at New Hampshire (last week) and wrecked again.
“I’ve been doing this long enough (to know) you can’t stay on top forever. You have to work hard to get back. I think we’ve made a lot of improvements and I think we’re going to see some hopefully this weekend, but you never like having a curveball. This is kind of one of the toughest things you have to go through, (when) one of your star drivers can’t drive.”
An upbeat Earnhardt, on the mend from a concussion, visited the team shop Wednesday and boosted spirits with his progress. Gordon has committed to racing Sunday and in the next race at Pocono.
“The encouraging news is that everybody just stepped up and is working harder,” Hendrick said. “We’re determined to work in every area from the engine to the chassis to the aero. The teams are excited. It’s kind of a refuse-to-lose belief.
“But we didn’t need this, for sure. And we didn’t need the wrecks we’ve gone through. Our place looks like a salvage yard with all the cars that have been torn up, but that just makes us dig harder. I think Junior coming to the shop was a big lift. Jeff being here is a big lift. Hopefully we’ll turn the corner here pretty quick.”
Gordon, a four-time series champion with 93 career wins, knows from experience how his team typically bounces back from adversity.
“When Hendrick Motorsports is dominating this series, that highly motivates your competition and they go to work,” Gordon said. “Sometimes, you get torn down while you’re getting your butt kicked, but you start to find a way to get yourself better than you were before. … That’s sort of what’s happening to us right now. We’re being highly motivated by other organizations and teams that are out there getting great results. We’re too good of an organization not to find a way to only make ourselves better and stronger and our cars faster to get back to that place.”
Johnson also pointed to last week’s race at New Hampshire as a microcosm of the team’s misfortunes.
“We had competitive cars, all running in the top 11, and in one corner we lose two of them,” he said.
Elliott and Alex Bowman, driving for Earnhardt, dropped back after late-race incidents caused by blown tires. Elliott finished 34th and Bowman 26th. Kahne faltered to 25th while Johnson came in 12th.
“I think we have a good foundation to build from,” Johnson said. “We have respectable finishes in our cars. But nobody wants to be a decent finisher, a respectable finisher. We all want to dominate. We’re working real hard on all fronts, from our engine shop to our chassis shop, aero, teams, pit stops, all of it. We’re all highly inspired to get back on top of the mountain, as we feel we should be at Hendrick Motorsports.
"I guess we’re tired of looking through the silver lining and saying, ‘Hey, we did have four in the top 11 with 30 to go before a crash happened.’ And I’ve lost a bunch of cars here recently. I’ve been in the wall a bunch. I’ve got to quit that. I slid in my pits last week. Running near the top 10 and had to restart 25th and got back to 12th. We’ve got to clean it up on all fronts and hopefully we have it all together here and we can win.”