NASCAR Cup Series

Hendrick Motorsports has lost ground to Cup competition

Published Aug. 10, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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Jeff Hammond

It was nice to see Juan Pablo Montoya at the head of the field Sunday. His road-course record speaks for itself. It was also a big shot in the arm for Kurt Busch with his solid run.

What I was watching to see, though, is what is going on over at Hendrick Motorsports?

The reason I say that is because we really didn’t see anything out of Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. or the Hendrick-supported car of Tony Stewart. Let’s face it, Tony Stewart has pretty much owned Watkins Glen International, site of Sunday’s race, of late — but he really wasn’t much of a factor all day.

So it makes you wonder if this group here collectively isn’t behind on several fronts.

These guys haven’t been consistently strong as of late, something especially obvious at the Brickyard 400. Is there something in their research that has them off a little bit?

Leading into the race, we talked about how a road course can help or hurt you and we saw that Sunday. Look at Jimmie Johnson because he slipped back another notch. Is he in jeopardy of falling out of the Chase? Oh heck no.

Again, when you look collectively at the Hendrick Motorsports camp and the other two cars they support, it really makes me wonder. None of the six cars ran well.

Think about it for a second, Tony Stewart has run first or second at Watkins Glen the past six races and now Sunday he was a non-factor?

There were only two Chase racers in Sunday’s top six – Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards.

Sure it gives them some great confidence and momentum, but does it give you any guarantees? No it doesn’t. Watkins Glen was simply a stepping stone to bring you closer to the final pre-Chase race at Richmond International Raceway in September. At the end of the day, you either gained or you lost in regards to the Chase.

Stepping stones can go either way, though.

For Mark Martin, Sunday was a stepping stone to get back into the Chase. Unfortunately for Clint Bowyer, he fell out.

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