News and Media Releases

Tough Day At The Glen

09/08/2009

Johnson Finishes 12th with Gordon and Earnhardt Receiving Extensive Damage in Separate Incidents.

The Hendrick Motorsports teams experienced a tough day in Monday's running of the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen in the season's second and final road course event. Johnson was the highest finishing HMS car with a 12th-place run while fellow Quaker State driver Mark Martin struggled throughout the weekend bringing his No. 5 Chevrolet home to a 23rd-place finish. Both Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon were involved in incidents that ended their day early.

For the second week in a row Mother Nature postponed the race from Sunday to Monday. Johnson took the green flag from the pole, his first on a road course, under deep blue skies. The three-time champion led one time for four laps but fell off late in the race to finish 12th.

Mark Martin and the No. 5 HMS team struggled all weekend looking for speed. After starting in the 28th position the veteran driver ran mid-pack for most of the day before taking the checkered flag in the 23rd position.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was also running mid-pack before he had a brake failure that sent him hard into the tire barrier on lap 43 causing extensive damage to the front end of the No. 88 Chevy.  The crew was able to make enough repairs to get NASCAR's most popular driver back on track and finish 39th for the day.

Fellow HMS driver Jeff Gordon started from deep in the field but was able to pick off several positions through the first portion of the 90-lap event. However, the four-time champion was involved in a tremendous crash on lap 64 that damaged his Chevy beyond repair. Gordon was credited with the 37th finishing position.

Johnson remains second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings with Gordon maintaining his third position. Mark Martin lost one spot falling to 11th with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. losing two positions dropping to the 25th spot.

Tony Stewart won the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen with Marcos Ambrose and Carl Edwards finishing second and third. Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle rounded out the top-five.

Next up for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the Carfax 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Live Coverage of racing action will begin on Sunday, August 16, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. (ET) on ESPN along with radio coverage on MRN/Sirius-XM Satellite Radio at 1:15 p.m. (ET).