Notes: Chase drivers run into trouble at Chicagoland

JOLIET, Ill. -- Shortly after he emerged from his No. 8 Chevrolet following Sunday's USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to endure a little good-natured ribbing from his crewmates.

"Hey, Muscle Beach is that way," yelled one, pointing.

Junior laughed and flexed for the crowd, telling them he felt strong. He actually felt wiped out after battling a car that lost its power steering on Lap 211, or what turned out to be 56 hard laps from the finish. Earnhardt was running third at the time and seemed poised to complete a top-10 or possibly even a top-five run.

Lap-by-Lap

Jimmie Johnson was running second when he cut a tire and slammed the wall at Chicago.

• Lap-by-Lap, click here
• Race Video, click here

In the end, he was just glad to finish. He dropped several spots almost immediately, free-falling all the way to 17th by Lap 240 and ultimately limping home in 19th position.

Asked how hard it was to drive his machine after the power steering went, he pointed to his hauler and joked: "Try leaning on that and trying to push it. That'll give you an idea of what it was like.

"I was just trying to keep it off the wall. I really had to fight it. If a wreck or something had happened right in front of us, I wouldn't have been able to steer away from it. So I felt fortunate to be able to bring it back in one piece."

At least Earnhardt didn't lose any spots in the point standings, remaining in 12th place -- although Ryan Newman, who is now 13th, closed to within 30 points by finishing eighth. The top 12 in driver points after 26 races earn spots in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, NASCAR's version of postseason playoffs that cover the final 10 races of the season.

Tough luck for Johnson
Earnhardt wasn't the only top-12 driver to endure a tough Sunday at Chicagoland.

Jimmie Johnson took the biggest hit in the point standings when his left-rear tire went down and he spun and slammed into the Turn 4 wall on Lap 222 of the 267-lap event. That relegated him to a 37th-place finish that dropped him three spots in the points -- from fourth to seventh.

It was especially frustrating for Johnson because until that point he appeared to have the one car that could challenge eventual race winner Tony Stewart, having led on five different occasions for a total of 82 laps. And Johnson hit the wall hard.

"That certainly knocked the wind out of me and I hit my elbow on the seat," Johnson said. "But I'm just disappointed. We had such a great racecar and I was trying to have something there for the No. 20 [of Stewart].

"It was amazing when that tire blew how violent it was. I thought the driveshaft came out of the car, it was so violent. But it was just the right-rear tire." (Continued)