WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Momentum can be a fickle thing in NASCAR. One week you have it, the next week you feel like nothing can go your way.

After winning for the first time in 2010 last week at Pocono, Greg Biffle was on top of the world coming to Watkins Glen International for Sunday's Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen. Biffle led both Cup practices Friday, qualified a respectable seventh Saturday and looked to be a threat to win Sunday.

“

It's so stupid. ... It's just lack of respect out there for each other and that's the way these races have gotten toward the end.

”

-- DENNY HAMLIN

And while Biffle might not have had the car to challenge Juan Montoya or Marcos Ambrose, he clearly could have earned a top-five. But on the Lap 65 restart, Biffle went from contender to back of the pack after he and Boris Said got together in Turn 1, forcing Biffle to check up.

Biffle dropped all the way to 25th and could only make up one position in the final 25 laps, coming home a disappointing 24th.

"It sucks when you have to drive with people with their heads in the wrong place," Biffle said. "He [Said] did the same thing every restart. The guy is hanging on to the top 10, barely, and races this race once a year or whatever. He banzai's the corner three-wide in Turn 1 because that is the only place he could make a pass on the restart. Anyone can do that. He just jammed it in there three-wide and Kevin [Harvick] was already turning in, I was already turning in. There was no place for it."

The finish kept Biffle 11th in the standings, just 112 points ahead of 13th place Clint Bowyer with four races remaining until the Chase.

Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson know they will be in the Chase. But both drivers would like to go into the 10-race postseason with a full steam of momentum to capitalize on their five race victories apiece. Instead, both drivers are trying to stop their downward spiral before the points are reset.

Problems hampered Johnson and the No. 48 all day and when he eventually spun and hit the wall amid a mess on Lap 70, Hamlin was the only one who couldn't avoid contact, leaving both drivers with finishes outside the top 25.

• Video: Hamlin plows into wrecked Johnson

Johnson's woes began on Lap 10, when his left-rear tire went down and he had to make an early pit stop under green. The four-time champion went from 10th to 37th and had to work his way through the field.

Johnson got up to ninth, but on Lap 70 was tapped by Jeff Burton when they and Kyle Busch made it three-wide in Turn 7.

"We just recovered from a flat tire that we had and worked our way up there into the top 10, finally. Then we had some contact from behind," Johnson said. "I'm really not sure what all took place, but getting into [Turn 7], I got hit from behind and turned around. We already overcame the tire early in the race and just didn't have any time to come back from that."

The damage to Johnson's car was minimal, but when Hamlin was unable to see Johnson through all the smoke and T-boned the No. 48, both drivers had extensive damage.

"I really didn't see who took out the No. 48, but I know in front of me the No. 18 [Busch] dive-bombed the No. 31 [Burton]," a frustrated Hamlin said after the race. "The No. 77 [Sam Hornish Jr.] dive-bombed me and there was just nowhere to go. The No. 48, when he spun he just lit them up where nobody could see anything and I just hit him.

"It's so stupid. We were racing for 10th place, we weren't racing for a win. It's just lack of respect out there for each other and that's the way these races have gotten toward the end."

Johnson's team was able to make repairs and he stayed on the lead lap, finishing 28th. Hamlin wasn't as fortunate and was unable to return to the track, finishing 37th.

After winning a combined 10 of the first 17 races, Johnson and Hamlin had all the momentum they could handle. But as the weather has heated up, both have chilled considerably.

In Hamlin's past seven starts, he has just two top-10s and an average finish of 19.7.

For Johnson, it's a little worse. Since winning back-to-back events at Sonoma and Loudon, Johnson has just one finish better than 22nd in a five-race stretch.

The momentum Johnson had in the spring has all but disappeared in the summer -- not the way one wants to start the Chase. But if Johnson is concerned, he isn't showing it.

"I'm not worried," Johnson said. "If you look through all the years, summers have never been our best months so, no, I'm not concerned."