Martin win leaves others scratching their heads

While Mark Martin needed a few things to go his way late in the race to win Saturday night at Chicagoland Speedway, let's be clear about something: He had the best car all night. And the second-best car belonged to teammate Jimmie Johnson, who got shuffled at the end and finished 8th.

Even with Johnson's woes, Hendrick Motorsports went 1-2 with Martin and Jeff Gordon taking the top two spots. It's the second time in the last five races Hendrick cars have finished 1-2. In fact, Hendrick has had at least one car finish in the top 2 in the last five races.

That's got others in the garage scratching their heads as the series gets this weekend off before resuming at Indianapolis in two weeks. In one spot, there was Joe Gibbs and J.D. Gibbs taking privately. Not far away was Jack Roush with Drew Blickensderfer (Matt Kenseth's crew chief). Not far from them was Tony Stewart huddled with crew chief Darian Grubb. And this was 15 minutes after the race ended.

Seven races to go until the Chase and three of Hendrick's cars are in the top 12 (Gordon is 2nd, Johnson is 3rd and Martin is 11th) and both Stewart-Haas cars, which get technical support and engines from Hendrick are in the top 12 (Tony is 1st and Ryan Newman is 7th).

That's domination. That's getting to some folks.

Consider:

Denny Hamlin: "We're still not in a league of those Hendrick cars,'' he told me in the garage afterward. "We've still got a long way to go when it comes to them.''

Remember that Hamlin finished fifth Saturday -- his fourth top-five finish in the last five races.

J.D. Gibbs says the team still has some work to do also. He says the team is working has hard as possible. Car owner Rick Hendrick, though, says he doesn't see his organization being as dominant even if it shows it on paper.

Hendrick, and crew chief Alan Gustafson noted the recent run of Kasey Kahne, Hamlin and Juan Pablo Montoya among others.

"I hate to say we've been lucky in a lot of ways, but we have been lucky,'' Hendrick said.

Lucky to some degree but let's be honest, the Hendrick guys are kicking the rear end of a lot of teams right now.

On to other issues:

# NASCAR announced that the right rear of Martin Truex's car was too high. The car will be taken to the NASCAR R&D center in Concord, N.C., to be further examined. If NASCAR determines there is an infraction, expect to see a loss of points for Truex, a fine and a crew chief Kevin Manion possibly suspended for a few races.

# Kyle Busch had horrible night as his up-and-down season continues. He fell to 10th in the season standings and is just 13 points ahead of Greg Biffle, who is 13th in the points. Yes, Busch, who has won three races this year, is 13 points from falling out of the Chase. Granted, there's seven races left until the Chase field is determined, but he's now doing a bit of a tight-rope act.

J.D. Gibbs says a key for Kyle Busch will be not to get down during this streatch. Some have suggested that even though it was some mecahnical issues last  year that hurt Busch in the Chase that his mental approach didn't help things once he fell in a hole. Gibbs likens Busch to how Tony Stewart could be early in his career and that's something that Stewart worked through and went on to win titles.  Let's see how Busch responds because he's been moody lately.

# Kasey Kahne finished third and he's pumped. He told me in the garage that he feels like his team is on par with the Hendrick guys. He says they've made gains in many areas the past two months but admits horsepower is a key and the improved engine has played a role in the success of the team. Kahne scored his third top-10 in the last four races. I'd watch him at Indy in two weeks. He participated in a number of the Goodyear tire tests at Indy over the last year and says he thinks that should help his team. If he can finish well there, it could help lead to a strong run at Pocono and then maybe he can tie his Sonoma success to Watkins Glen. it's a lot of ifs but if that all happens, I'd watch out for this guy. He could be building quite a head of steam heading into the Chase.

# Consider Jeff Burton done. He was involved in an accident shortly after a restart and blamed the restarts for tight action that has led to some recent wrecks. He said this was the fourth time he's been collected in a crash. He finished 37th and fell to 17th in the season standings. He's 182 points behind 12th with seven races to go. That's a lot to overcome. He'll have to win a race and score a bunch of top-fives to even make the Chase and that team has not shown the speed to do so.

# No Roush car finished in the top 10. That's the second time in the last 3 races, Roush cars have been shut out of the top 10. Carl Edwards finished 14th Saturday to lead Roush and Ford. Roush also had no one in the top 10 at New Hampshire (a track the series visits in the Chase). Roush cars led a total of 4 laps in the last four races. That's not going to get it done and it's why Greg Biffle fell out of the top 12 on Saturday and Matt Kenseth is now 12th. A lot of can still happen but in a worst-case scenario, Roush might have only one car (Edwards) make the Chase.

# Juan Pablo Montoya's 10th-place finish was his fifth top-10 in the last six races (the one race he wasn't in the top 10, he placed 12th). He's moved from 14th to ninth in the points during that stretch.

Here's the top 10 from Saturday night:

1. Mark Martin

2. Jeff Gordon

3. Kasey Kahne

4. Tony Stewart

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Ryan Newman

7. Brian Vickers

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Clint Bowyer

10. Juan Pablo Montoya

Here's the top 15 in the points after Saturday night's race:

1. Tony Stewart .... 2,884 points

2. Jeff Gordon ........175 points behind leader

3. Jimmie Johnson ..212 points behind leader

4. Kurt Busch ..........358 points behind leader

5. Denny Hamlin ....427 points behind leader

6. Carl Edwards .....446 points behind leader

7. Ryan Newman .... 100 POINTS AHEAD OF 13TH PLACE

8. Kasey Kahne ...... 51 POINTS AHEAD OF 13TH PLACE

9. Juan Pablo Montoya ... 36 POINTS AHEAD OF 13TH PLACE

10. Kyle Busch ...........13 POINTS AHEAD OF 13TH PLACE

11. Mark Martin ...........11 POINTS AHEAD OF 13TH PLACE

12. Matt Kenseth .........10 POINTS AHEAD OF 13TH PLACE

13. Greg Biffle ..............10 points behind 12th

14. David Reutimann ...76 points behind 12th

15. Clint Bowyer ............126 points behind 12th

So, what did you think of Saturday's race? What do you think of the way things are shaping up as the series heads into an off weekend?

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.