AVONDALE, Ariz. -- What looked to be a promising start of the season for Dodge now has Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman nervously shaking his head.

All hats were off to the "Dodge Boys" after the season-opening Daytona 500 where six of the manufacturer's drivers finished in the top 10 and Bobby Labonte placed just outside in 11th.

Newman, along with Gillett Evernham Motorsports' Kasey Kahne, continue to carry the flag for Dodge maintaining positions in the top 12 of the standings.

But Saturday night in the Arizona desert made for some angry Dodge drivers, mostly pole-sitter Newman and Elliot Sadler, who both fell prey to faulty engines.

On Lap 133 of the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, Newman's engine blew spewing oil all over the track and collecting a number of cars including Dodge driver Reed Sorenson (watch video).

"I thought we were good and the next thing I knew we got hit really hard from behind," said Sorenson, who finished 42nd. "I don't know who hit us, but it spun us around and the No. 17 [Matt Kenseth] came in there and got into the left front a little bit. We had a little damage there and then ended up blowing a tire and hitting the wall after that. That ended our night."

Newman said his engine lost a "front seal."

"It's the same thing that happened to us in Bristol," Newman said in reference to his worst finish of the season before Saturday. "It's disappointing. That's two times in the first eight races that we had the same problem. Our engine company needs to get their stuff together."

Newman, who finished 43rd, dropped two spots to the 12th position in the standings and now leads Jeff Gordon by just eight points.

Newman said he had no forewarning his engine would go.

"The motor still runs fine," he said. "It just pumps oil out the front end and it gets on the headers and smokes real bad. I apologize for what I did to the race track [spilled oil resulting in long red flag], but that's all I had to work with."

Gillett Evernham Motorsports driver Sadler, who qualified second, was running in the fourth position when his race ended abruptly as the result of a failed engine, as well.

"We lost something in the engine. I'm not sure what really happened. It's a shame. This ... was the best car that we've had all year," said Sadler, who finished 41st.

Kahne was running second and then fell off due to brake issues and finally blew a tire and hit the wall hard (watch video). His engine held up but the No. 9 finished 36th after the car qualified fifth.

"I don't know what it was," Kahne said of his brakes. "But I would lift off the brakes and the rear brakes would stay on and suck the car wherever it wanted to. It sucked me right into the wall."

The crew worked on the car and the No. 9 got back on the track to gain valuable points and even moved up one spot to 11th in the standings, 14 points ahead of Newman.

"We were definitely better than what we have been," Kahne said. "So that is a good thing. We have a lot of potential."

Labonte, despite losing a cylinder, was the highest-finishing Dodge in 12th and Juan Montoya finished 16th, with both drivers each moving up three places in points. Montoya is 16th and Labonte 18, with Dodge driver Kurt Busch in between.

Busch lost a lap and struggled to make his No. 2 machine turn and finished 23rd, two laps off the pace. Busch hasn't had a top-10 since finishing second at Daytona.