Weekend That Was: Calif. (cont'd)

No excuses
You had to admire Tony Eury Jr., Earnhardt's crew chief, for not pulling punches when asked about the predicament the No. 8 team is in after Sunday's race.

"Everybody wants to be in the Chase," Eury said. "Somebody has got to lose and we've had too many errors [throughout the season]. But we've run in the top five I don't know how many times and then we'd have a motor blow up or power steering go out -- you know, the craziest stuff like that.

"It's luck. It's rotten luck, and some of it was brought on by ourselves. But there is nothing you can really do about it now. I mean, as long as the car is running in the top five and Junior is doing his part and we're doing our part, things happen. You can't sit back on the couch and say, 'Well, I've had a terrible year,' because you haven't. You've just got to keep your guys pumped up."

Lap-by-Lap

See how Jimmie Johnson worked his way to the front and held off Carl Edwards for his fifth victory of the year.

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

Eury admitted that he and Earnhardt desperately wanted to make the Chase, considering this is the driver's last year of employment at Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company Junior's late father founded. Beginning next season, Earnhardt will drive for Hendrick Motorsports -- and it appears Eury will be following him there.

"You can say, 'Well, all right, this is his last year at DEI and we want to go out with a bang and be in the Chase.' But unfortunately, it's not going to happen. So we'll just kind of take what we've got and move on," Eury said.

"We'll just try to win some races. That was our goal coming in [to the season] and we haven't done it yet. Our goal will still be to try and win as many as we can in that last 10. You can kind of throw the points out the window, which is kind of cool. We just need to win some races."

They just need to win one. They haven't done it since the spring race at Richmond in 2006, which was 51 races ago.

Still hedging
J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, was still playing it close to the vest when he was asked about Kyle Busch spilling the story that JGR will switch from Chevrolets to Toyotas beginning next season.

"God bless Kyle. He's going to fit right in with the rest of our guys," said Gibbs, smiling when asked to officially confirm the stunning Toyota switch.

When later pressed to at least confirm that there would be an official announcement at JGR headquarters in Huntersville, N.C., this Wednesday, Gibbs still hedged his answer. He wouldn't even bite when he was reminded that one of his other drivers, Tony Stewart, confirmed that he was told to be there.

"I can't say yet. I hate the fact that we can't say, 'Hey, here's the deal. Here's what's going on.' But the reality is that we're still in the process," Gibbs insisted. "Once you complete that process, when we make that [decision], that's kind of when we can sit down and make an [official] announcement. Then we have to address the right people first. You know how it is. I want to make sure we talk to the right group first, whichever direction we go.

"But there could be [an announcement Wednesday at the shop]. Could be. I'll say that."

High praise for HOF Racing
Gibbs said that most folks don't realize what it took for Hall of Fame Racing to hang in there as a single-car operation with limited funding prior to Sunday's announced ownership change. While HOF founders Bill Saunders, Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach will remain on board as minority owners, controlling interest in the team was sold to Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel -- respected executives with Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks.

It has helped HOF that they have partnered with, and will continue to partner with, Joe Gibbs Racing -- which gives the team its engines and other technical assistance.

"I think when you look around the landscape and see other guys who have tried to do the same thing, tried to start a team [recently], they're not very successful," Gibbs said. "I mean, these guys, they're not top 15, but I think what they've done has been amazing. I'll brag on our guys: we've given them good stuff. But they've done a lot on their own, too, and I don't think most people realize how hard that is."

Gibbs also said that he isn't likely to see more single-car start-up attempts by small groups of investors in the future. He said that the sport has just gotten too expensive, which is why he likes HOF Racing's chance now that more investors are on board.

"I think, years ago, if you were coming in, you could just start your own team. To start a team now, you almost have to partner up first, which is good for the owners," Gibbs said.

"Tom, it's not like he's just a financial guy looking to make an investment. He's been in racing. He knows what the deal is. ... If you watch what they've done in Arizona, they've got some sharp guys."

Wrong setup
Kurt Busch was satisfied in the end with his ninth-place finish at California, but he originally had hoped for more after using the same race setup as he did with success during his recent rain-soaked win at Michigan.

"The night was really interesting," Busch said. "I felt like as the race went longer, our car grew looser. Maybe we were [confused] by our good run at Michigan. But it was 60 degrees at Michigan and it was 160 [Sunday]."

Pit Stops
• Gibbs was asked if he would encourage HOF Racing to perhaps sign driver J.J. Yeley in the future. Yeley currently is seeking a ride for next season after being replaced at JGR by Kyle Busch. "Seriously, that's not a bad option. I'll say that," Gibbs said.

• Word is that DEI will make its driver lineup official by the end of this week, but probably will not have all its sponsors in place for next season by then.

• Bobby Labonte had another strong run for Petty Enterprises at California, just missing his third consecutive top-10 finish by placing 11th.

• How is this for Brian Vickers' last three weeks? Eighth at Michigan, failed to qualify at Bristol, eighth at California.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.