Jimmie Johnson suffered his third DNF of the year -- and his first blown engine, Credit: AP

Johnson loses points, but not much else

New system allowed series leader room for error

SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- Jimmie Johnson still doesn't like NASCAR's new championship format.

But Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Nextel Cup Series points leader couldn't help but grin at the realization that misfortune doesn't sting quite as bad as it may have in years past.

Jimmie Johnson (left) and Jeff Gordon have combined to win nine races in 2004. Credit: AP

Johnson blew an engine 88 laps into the 11th annual Brickyard 400, relegating him to a 36th-place finish and enabling his closest pursuers to make up considerable ground in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

But does it even matter? Under the new format, the championship points leader will surrender all but five points of his lead following the season's 26th race, regardless how large that lead may be.

"You can look at it either way -- we had a nice (points) cushion that would've been nice to have in the old system, but now it all resets here in a little bit anyway," Johnson said. "But we don't want to have failures, period.

"We want to be able to compete for every win. But it does cater to this new system, so we're okay."

The blown engine wasn't Johnson's only setback Sunday, it merely culminated a frustrating day that included a spinout on Lap 31 and several pit stops to adjust an ill-handling racecar.

JIMMIE JOHNSON •   Driver Page •   Jimmie Johnson gear! •   Gillette Young Guns Challenge •   Tech Q&A: Chad Knaus

"Shoot, 15 pit stops, a spin, sitting on pit road idling, making spring rubber adjustments - there's no telling what happened," said crew chief Chad Knaus. "You have to look at it and say if there's a day you want it to happen, it's today. We weren't running very competitively and had to do a lot of adjusting."

Knaus is correct. Rarely is the No. 48 Chevrolet so off. Johnson has finished among the top-five 14 times in 21 starts to date, and Sunday's DNF marks just the third time all year he failed to finish an event.

All said, Johnson forfeited 135 points to teammate and race-winner Jeff Gordon in the championship standings.

His lead now stands at 97 points.

"We actually came to Indianapolis with the goal of trying to win the race," Knaus continued. "We brought a car we thought was more than capable of winning the event.

BRICKYARD 400 Domination Gordon gets his fourth Brickyard 400 win Final Laps Jeff Gordon holds off Dale Jarrett in a two-lap sprint to the checkers Point leader blues Jimmie Johnson's engine expires on Lap 88 Restart wreck Several cars sustain heavy damage in a wreck on Lap 73 Spin cycle Stewart and Johnson spin in traffic but avoid getting hit Early exit Leffler hits the wall in the early laps •   Unofficial Results •   Unofficial Standings •   Unofficial Chase for the Nextel Cup "Bubble" Standings

"We qualified very respectably for the draw we had, and then in race practice we never got the combination. We tried everything from our Pocono setup to our Loudon setup. Nothing ever really hit."

Holding a 232-point lead and carrying momentum from last weekend's dominant performance at Pocono, Knaus brought an experimental body to the Brickyard 400. They qualified well, but the car never agreed with the team's race setup.

"We thought we had it sorted out yesterday in the final practice, but today the same loose condition we had in race practice came back up," Johnson said. "We just couldn't get it adjusted out of it.

"It was something really weird where we thought maybe the chain was picking up the left rear and hurting it or a shock was topping out - something that wouldn't allow me to have any roll in the car getting into the turn.

"I think we'd have been top 15, top 20. I definitely felt like I could win here after having success at Pocono, so it's too bad it didn't happen."

Johnson was untouchable at Pocono, leading 124 laps in achieving the season-sweep at the 2.5-mile track. Indy's flat, 2.5-mile layout is comparable to Pocono's, so Johnson entered the weekend optimistic.

"This was just one of those bad days that you have," Johnson said. "Last week we were the heroes and today, we definitely weren't that. Just too bad.

"We were going to salvage a top 15 at best today and come out of here with some decent points, but unfortunately the motor didn't want to go any further and locked up tight. Just a bad day for us."