Just when something seems all wrapped up, it goes away so quickly. That is the best way to describe what happened on Sunday at Martinsville.
The writing was on the wall to see Rick Hendrick get his 200th career win as a team owner. All afternoon, three of the top four cars in the race were out of his stable, two of them having a rich history of victories at the small track right on the Virginia-North Carolina border. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were in the perfect spot for the heated battle to victory. In third, it was Dale Earnhardt Jr, hoping to sneak up and get the win from his two Hendrick teammates.
But, three laps to go, it all went away. The stalled car of David Reutimann, a car that should have been on pit road laps earlier, brought out the caution.
At that point, the race changed, because the leader was in a box. Pit, lose any chance of winning; don’t pit, and risk the drivers behind pouring on the speed in the first corner. The final decision: Gordon and Johnson elect to stay out, while Earnhardt Jr. is forced to pit as he was low on fuel.
The green flag comes out for a green-white-checkered finish…and all hell breaks loose. Bowyer gets pushed to the low side entering the first turn, and both Gordon and Johnson end up on the worst end of a wreck.
Gordon ends up running out of fuel on the track, finishing 14th. Johnson, he winds up in 12th. The two dominant cars of the entire afternoon ended up with finishes that never reflected the effort both drivers put forth for all 500 laps, and the 13 extra laps it took to decide a winner. Meanwhile, team owner Rick Hendrick still sits on win No. 199 in his career as an owner.
Six races into the year, Hendrick has no victories. In fact, he has no wins since Kansas in the fall of last year, when Johnson got his second win of the season, and only one in the Chase.
That’s not to say Hendrick hasn’t seen success. His affiliate team, Stewart-Haas Racing, has won eight of the last 16 races, dating back to the start of the 2011 Chase. If that’s not domination, I don’t know what is.
But, it doesn’t count toward that total. The wins were not out of the Hendrick stable, which houses the cars of Johnson, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne.
When that win will come is now uncertain. The upcoming off-week should give this organization a chance to recoup, and refocus on the upcoming stretch of races.
RESULTS: 1-Newman 2-Allmendinger 3-Earnhardt Jr. 4-Kenseth 5-Truex Jr. 6-Hamlin 7-Stewart 8-Almirola 9-Keselowski 10-Bowyer
NOTABLE FINISHES: 11-Edwards 12-Johnson 14-Gordon 19-Harvick 36-Kyle Busch 38-Kahne
CAUTIONS: 7 for 56 laps. Lap 99-104 (#18 accident-T3), 246-254 (#36 accident-T2), 265-270 (#32, 42 accident-BS), 316-328 (#5 blown engine-BS), 362-368 (#93 spin-T2), 498-503 (#10 stalled on track-FS), 505-513 (#15, 24, 48 accident-T1 and T2).
LEAD CHANGES: 19 among 10 drivers. Kahne POLE, Harvick 1-21, Gordon 22-99, Keselowski 100, Gordon 101-228, Earnhardt Jr. 229-231, Gordon 232, Hamlin 233, Bowyer 234-235, Kenseth 236, Almirola 237-239, Gordon 240-322, Keselowki 323, Gordon 324-355, Johnson 356-362, Hamlin 363-392, Johnson 393-496, Gordon 497-502, Johnson 503, Newman 504-515.
TIME OF RACE: 3 Hrs, 26 Mins, 12 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 78.823 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.342 Seconds
POINT STANDINGS: 1. Biffle, 226 points; 2. Earnhardt Jr, -6; 3. Stewart, -12; 4. Kenseth, -12; 5. Harvick, -12; 6. Truex Jr, -12; 7. Hamlin, -16; 8. Newman, -24; 9. Bowyer, -34; 10. Johnson, -37; 11. Edwards, -47; 12. Keselowski, -51
