Cross' Words: Phoenix

For those fans affectionately known as Hendrick Haters, this has not been a banner year. Hendrick's three-car stable -- face it, Casey Mears' season is officially R&D at this point -- has five wins in eight races, including a sweep of the COT starts, and looks to be unstoppable.

To boot, Jeff Gordon went to Phoenix and snatched that 0-fer monkey right off his back, out-maneuvering Tony Stewart en route to the checkered flag and into a tie with Dale Earnhardt for sixth place on the all-time victories list.

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How much longer before the buzz from the Ford and / or Dodge camps becomes a full-throat roar, wanting a change here or a tweak there to help even the competition?

The Ford camp remains all Roush all the time. Matt Kenseth (third in points), Carl Edwards (eighth) and Jamie McMurray (12th) are off to good starts, while Greg Biffle (14th) continues to gather momentum.

The Dodge folks must be wondering if they'll catch a break before it's too late. Penske's Kurt Busch (13th) and Ryan Newman (26th) have had several potentially great runs turn sour, while Evernham's Kasey Kahne (33rd) is approaching also-ran status.

Stewart has led a series-best 584 laps but never the most important one. His frustration has led from talking retirement (after Texas) to not talking (after Phoenix). The fact he knows victories have slipped through his fingers this season -- including Saturday night at Phoenix -- is no excuse for shunning the post-race interviews at PIR.

Don't be too quick to throw him under the bus. Maybe his anger management is silent; better to say nothing rather than explode in a public tirade. But he knows the Gibbs cars can compete with Hendrick's. Ditto Kenseth and the Penske bunch. As for the rest of the competition, there's work to be done.

So how good are the Hendrick cars? In a season dominated by Chevrolet, Hendrick's top three are clearly the class of the field: (Continued)