FONTANA, Calif. -- Mechanical problems relegated Dale Earnhardt Jr. to a 32nd-place finish in Sunday's Auto Club 500, breaking the momentum of his second-place run in the season-opening Daytona 500.
Earnhardt finished 12 laps down after stopping for extensive repairs on Lap 183.
"We tore up an axle or a drive plate -- one of the two happened first," Earnhardt said. "Down in the center of [Turns] 1 and 2, I just got back to the gas, and the car felt like it had a flat tire. I don't know. Something's going on there where we're chewing that stuff up and tearing it up. We've got to figure out why that's happening. They think it's a material issue, so we'll just have to see."
Asked whether his team was sharing information with those of Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson (Sunday's race winner), Mark Martin (fourth) and Jeff Gordon (20th), Earnhardt replied, "Of course we are. I can't build the cars. What do you want me to do? I just drive them."
Earnhardt's winless streak reached 59 races since June 2008, his first season with Hendrick Motorsports. He has only one win the last 136 races.
"Looking at the guys around the top 10, we should have been around that No. 16 car [Greg Biffle, who finished 10th] I think," Earnhardt said. "It was a tough day."
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