Jimmie Johnson lost five spots in the Nextel Cup standings after a 37th-place finish. Credit: Autostock

Engine woes deal blow to Johnson's title hopes

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- The broken engine blues struck Jimmie Johnson again. But this one might have been the cruelest blow of all.

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After his fourth blown engine in the last nine races, Johnson finds himself a distant 172 points out of the lead in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. After leading the standings after nine races in 2004, Johnson is buried in ninth with seven events left.

Johnson had one of the fastest cars at Talladega Superspeedway, leading the EA Sports 500 six times for 35 laps. Only eventual winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. had better numbers than that Sunday.

But Johnson wouldn't be around to challenge for the victory. The problems started with what appeared to be a minor run-in on pit road, but they ended with Johnson wheeling a silent No. 48 Chevrolet to the Talladega garage.

Jimmie Johnson Credit: Autostock

On lap 125, under caution, Johnson was leaving his pit stall but swerved into Kasey Kahne, who was moving down in the middle lane of pit road. The damage to Johnson's car appeared to be cosmetic, but air ducts to the radiator could have been compacted, Johnson said.

"Cooked an engine," Johnson said. "We're not really sure what exactly caused it, possibly contact on pit road hurt the air duct or a head gasket. We're not really sure at this point."

Not long after Johnson's car retired, Hendrick Motorsports teammate Brian Vickers coasted to the garage with a damaged engine. Vickers' engine had started overheating some 40 laps earlier before it finally blew.

That was no consolation to Johnson, who led the points standings four races ago and had led by as much as 232 points earlier this year. That big lead evaporated with three consecutive blown engines, and the latest broken engine has left the No. 48 team with a lot of work to do.

VIDEO Victory Lane Dale Jr. takes the points lead with a win at Talladega Early Exit Jimmie Johnson scores a DNF in the EA Sports 500

"I'm not sure," Johnson said. "There are some other guys who have had some troubles, and now we're in that group. I hate to be in that group, but we're there. We'll just have to race hard. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. We can't lose any sleep over this. We all work our butts off, we try as hard as we can. Stuff happens."

Johnson put up a positive front after Sunday's disaster. Making up 172 points isn't impossible, especially considering Johnson's terrific season to date. Only Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon (five each) have more victories than Johnson (four), and no one has more top-fives than Johnson's 15.

"You can only be so upset," Johnson said. "We work our butts off and do everything we can. Stuff happens. Lady Luck wasn't our side and hasn't been on our side for a little while. But there's nothing we can do about it.

"We'll come back for the next one and try to get maximum points."