Jimmie Johnson's crew goes to work on the battered No. 48 Chevrolet after his Lap 88 accident. Credit: Autostock

Johnson's championship chances take huge hit

LOUDON, N.H. -- Jimmie Johnson banged sheet metal on the front left end of his No. 48 Chevrolet as the laps rattled off of Sunday's Nextel Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Crew chief Chad Knaus paced and issued orders to the nearly 20 Hendrick Motorsports employees hovering over the car that looked like it had been through a meat grinder.

Johnson returned to the track and finished 68 laps behind winner Kevin Harvick. Credit: Autostock

Sylvania 300 Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Kevin Harvick Chevy 2. Tony Stewart Chevy 3. Jeff Gordon Chevy 4. Denny Hamlin Chevy 5. Brian Vickers Chevy 6. Elliott Sadler Dodge 7. Jeff Burton Chevy 8. J.J. Yeley Chevy 9. Dave Blaney Dodge 10. Matt Kenseth Ford • Complete results, click here • Driver standings, click here Victory LaneKevin Harvick celebrates his Sylvania 300 win at Loudon Chase finishersGordon, Dale Jr. and Hamlin talk about the Loudon race Final lapsCars go crashing across the finish line behind Harvick Set backChase contender Jimmie Johnson slams into the wall damaging his car Tough racingKyle Busch crashes into the wall and takes a spin Early cautionKyle Busch involved in a spin bringing out the first caution Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

This isn't the way either hoped to spend the first race of the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

"I hope I don't eat the words that I said early on that you [can't win the Chase today but] you can lose it,'' Johnson said after finishing 39th to fall to ninth in the 10-race Chase.

Johnson was involved in a Lap 88 crash when Sterling Marlin nudged him into the wall while slowing to avoid Greg Biffle.

He spent 77 laps in the garage making repairs, returning to pick up two spots and six points, which gave him a seven-point lead over 10th-place Kyle Busch but a 139-point deficit to points leader Kevin Harvick.

"For the next nine weeks things have to go absolutely perfect for them,'' said defending Cup champion Tony Stewart, who was in this position in 2004. "They have to have everybody else have a day like they had. It's hard to expect those nine guys all to have a bad day.''

History says he's right. In '04, Stewart and Jeremy Mayfield crashed early at New Hampshire and never cracked the top five in points. Stewart finished the Chase sixth and Mayfield 10th.

A year ago, Kurt Busch crashed early, finished 35th in the race and wound up 10th in points.

"It's frustrating, especially for a guy like Jimmie,'' said Stewart, who finished second on Sunday. "He's been so good, so close for so many years. It made me sick to see that.''

But if anybody can climb out of the hole it's Johnson. He was ninth, 247 points out of first, four races into the 2004 Chase after engine problems at Talladega left him 37th and a crash at Kansas left him 32nd.

He rebounded with consecutive wins at Charlotte, Martinsville and Atlanta to move to second only 59 behind eventual winner Kurt Busch.

He won again two weeks later at Darlington to move within 18 points of Busch, and then finished second in the season-finale at Homestead to leave him eight points shy of the title.

"They do better when they're angry and get behind,'' said Johnson's teammate, Jeff Gordon. "It was a tough day for him. I look for those guys to be on quite a tear here for the next five or six races and try to get themselves back into it.

"Obviously, that's not the way you want to get your Chase starter.''

Johnson was optimistic going into the Chase, second in the points behind Matt Kenseth with a car that qualified seventh.

He was 10th early and running well at the time of the crash despite an engine problem that forced the team to pit twice under a Lap 82 pit stop trying to locate the issue.

"We looked at the plug wires and couldn't find anything,'' Johnson said. "We were trying to get to the next caution to work on it again.''

Unfortunately for Johnson, he brought out the next caution.

"We had a great racecar,'' Johnson said. "We've got to figure out what went wrong with the engine. The engine problem got us back there.''

Johnson handled the crash well, smiling at reporters as he entered the infield care center.

He also was determined to get back on the track, grabbing a hammer and doing what he could to get the car fixed.

By the time he climbed back behind the wheel on Lap 139 the entire hood was gone, the right front tire totally exposed and the right-rear quarterpanel all but gone.

Smoke poured from the engine the first time he restarted it, forcing the team to make a few more adjustments. He finally got back on the track on Lap 154 and maintained lap times of 31.44 seconds, well ahead of the minimum 33.14 required by NASCAR.

He finished the race, even though he could have climbed out of the car early with no hope of moving up another spot.

Afterwards, he left the track without talking to reporters, getting a pat on the back from a member of Stewart's team as he left the garage.

Stewart understands the frustration. Out of the Chase for the first time, he recommended NASCAR change its format to allow the non-Chase drivers go 200 laps and the Chase drivers race by themselves the next 200.

"It was very uncomfortable to race around the guys who were in the Chase right now,'' he said. "You're so scared of making a mistake around them and causing a problem like happened to Jimmie that you can't race like you normally race.

"It's a very frustrating situation.''