Potential Chase drivers find trouble early, often at BMS

Junior, Johnson, Burton involved; Kahne biggest loser

BRISTOL, Tenn. --

Twenty minutes after the Sharpie 500 had been completed in dramatic fashion at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night, Dale Earnhardt Jr. sat on the edge of the back of his hauler, head in

hands.

Looking just as dismayed, crew chief Tony Eury Jr. sat next to him, commiserating about the difficult night they had just endured. They looked like a pair searching for answers after finishing 18th, two laps behind winner Carl Edwards.

“Obviously we aren't doing things right here. We need to get smart and do it right. It was a tough night; it was tough to deal with.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR.

"We struggled all night. I don't know what the deal was," Earnhardt said.

Earnhardt was not alone in wondering what the deal was on a night when Bristol reclaimed much of its former glory during an entertaining race in front of a crowd of 165,000 -- the 53rd consecutive sellout at the venue nestled in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains.

As bad a night as Earnhardt thought he had, he actually moved up one spot in the point standings to third behind leader Kyle Busch and Edwards as his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson fell one spot after finishing 33rd in Saturday's race -- 18 laps off the winning pace.

Earnhardt's problems began technically before the race even started. He qualified horribly, in 40th starting position, and then tried to make up for it by passing folks before he had even reached the start-finish line after the green flag dropped to begin the race.

That's illegal, and Earnhardt promptly was ordered to serve a pass-through penalty that put him a lap down right away (watch video). He never made it up, even though he got close a couple of times.

"The car handling was pretty bad all night," Earnhardt said.

Johnson encountered his own early problems. He ran into the back of Sterling Marlin's No. 09 Chevrolet on Lap 27, cut a tire that forced him to make a green-flag pit stop, and never recovered from the mishap (watch video).

Earnhardt and Johnson weren't the only potential contenders in the Chase for the Sprint Cup who suffered through difficult nights. Jeff Burton was running fourth in the race and was up to third in points for the moment when he was taken out in a wreck on Lap 196.

It appeared Sam Hornish Jr. checked up in his No. 77 Dodge, which then led to Tony Stewart clipping Marlin and sending him spinning down the track. Burton's No. 31 Chevrolet got caught up in it when Joe Nemechek, who was behind him, failed to slow in time and plowed directly into him, destroying his car and ending Burton's night.

"I don't know what happened in front of me. Two cars got together. I was getting into the corner and the car behind me just didn't see it and ran over me," Burton said. "We were just taking our time, trying to be smart. You have to drive further than just right above your hood; you have to look further ahead of you at Bristol. Whoever was behind me didn't see what was going on and we got run over."

Burton tried to be philosophical about it, saying he could not have done anything differently. Plus he ended up not falling in the point standings, hanging onto fifth place, the same spot he occupied when the race began.

"We were in pretty good shape in points coming in," Burton said. "Things like this are going to hurt you, but there was nothing we could have done different. We ran well, we got ourselves in good position -- and we got wrecked. You can't lose sleep over things like that."

Kasey Kahne wasn't as fortunate as some of the other potential Chasers who encountered calamity at Bristol, yet were able to escape without major damage in the point standings. On Lap 217 of the 500-lap event, his No. 9 Dodge suffered the same fate as Burton's did earlier when he found himself in the middle of a multi-car pileup triggered when Casey Mears' spotter told him he was clear to go high -- and Mears wasn't.

Mears ended up hitting the No. 55 Toyota of Michael Waltrip, setting off a chain reaction that ultimately involved seven cars (watch video).

"We had a good racecar and it's a shame that we got caught up in that mess," said Kahne, who finished 40th and dropped three spots to 14th, out of the coveted top-12, in points. "The crash happened so fast. I just saw cars wrecking everywhere in front of me and there was nothing that I could do.

"I saw the 5 [of Mears] and the 55 and the next thing that I know, I got hit from behind and it tore up our car pretty good. It's disappointing because we took a hit in the Chase points, but that's the risk you run here at Bristol. I love racing here at Bristol; it's a great place with great fans. It was just a bad deal for us this time."

Earnhardt knew the feeling of despair.

"I don't know. We have to get a little better, man," Earnhardt said. "That wasn't too good of a run there. I am not too proud of that; I was a little embarrassed.

"I figured we would be OK in the Chase. But man, we have to get our heads on straight, you know what I mean? Obviously we aren't doing things right here. We need to get smart and do it right. It was a tough night; it was tough to deal with."