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."

Other contenders struggle
Other Chase contenders who struggled Sunday included Martin Truex Jr. and Jamie McMurray, who was coming off a win in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway one week earlier. That victory had lifted McMurray into 13th place, just 49 points behind Earnhardt, coming into Sunday's event.

But McMurray struggled all day, eventually hitting the wall coming out of Turn 2, and was able to complete just 214 laps. He was credited with a 38th-place finish and fell to 15th in points --111 out of 12th.

McMurray still finished one spot higher than Truex, who started second and led 12 laps early before engine troubles developed. He was forced to the garage on Lap 211 and did not return, finishing 39th. That dropped him one spot, from 10th to 11th, in the point standings.

The only other current Chase-eligible driver to drop a spot Sunday was Kyle Busch, who finished 13th and dropped from eighth to ninth as he was passed in the standings by Kevin Harvick.

Edwards strong
Carl Edwards was the only one amongst the top six finishers who did not lead a lap Sunday, but he was mighty pleased nonetheless with his third-place effort behind Stewart and second-place finisher Matt Kenseth.

His No. 99 Ford team overcame a poor pit stop during the race to do so.

"My guys are awesome," said Edwards, who jumped one spot to fifth in points. "They are the greatest guys. They can have good pit stops -- but for some reason, we keep having bad ones, making mistakes. ... I know they're always going to keep working hard to get back on the right track. I'm behind them 100 percent. I know they're always behind me no matter what I run into.

"I'm just excited we had such a great car. If we keep running like this, it's going to be an awesome season."