Rear Axle Problems Continue for Hendrick Chevrolets

A little bit of uneasiness and uncertainty might be in the air at Hendrick Motorsports this week.

For the second week in a row, a car from the HMS stable dropped from contention in a race because of rear axle problems. At Auto Club Speedway last Sunday, Dale Earnhardt Jr., played the victim, Sprint Cup champ Jimmie Johnson broke down at Daytona.

Both situations, as the drivers tell it, sound strangely similar.

"Down in the center (Turns) 1 and 2, I just got back to the gas and the car felt like it had a flat tire," said Earnhardt Jr. after his 32nd place finish Sunday.

Just a week prior, Johnson exited the Daytona 500 late in the race after what he also thought was a flat tire ended up being a a problem with the drive mechanism in the rear wheels -- an issue very similar to Earnhardt Jr.'s on Sunday.

"We tore up an axle or drive plate," said Earnhardt Jr. "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."
Johnson, of course, had no trouble in California and in fact won Sunday's race, though you can bet crew chief Chad Knaus is a little more focused on stopping whatever mechanical problem the Hendrick teams seemed to have developed.

On a more upbeat note, we should give a nod to the early season efforts of Regan Smith and his underfunded Furniture Row Racing team.

Smith was a fixture in the top-10 late in Sunday's race with a team that doesn't have nearly the resources of the teams that are usually up front. A mistake near the end of Sunday's race, though, relegated the team to 19th.

"We were running legitimately in the top 10 until I messed up on pit road on the last stop," said Smith after overshooting his pit box. "That really hurt us -- it's on me."

Meanwhile, don't you get the feeling that Stewart-Haas Racing is starting off 2010 like most people thought they would have started 2009 as a new team?

Tony Stewart, for one, has been less than impressive thus far, struggiing to a 22nd-place run at Daytona and following in California by squeaking into the top 10 -- with a ninth-place finish -- after a late surge toward the front.

Teammate Ryan Newman has struggled even more. He crashed in the Daytona 500, then blew an engine and failed to finish at California.

It's not cause for panic yet if you're a SHR fan, but it's a little strange that the team -- Stewart especially -- hasn't been closer to contending for a win.

Looking ahead to Sunday's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kasey Kahne returns with his usual red Budweiser paint scheme, and the change seemingly couldn't come at a better time.

Aside from his win in his Gatorade Duel qualifying race at Daytona, Kahne has had terrible luck with his white Winter Olympics paint scheme. First, he crashed six laps before the finish of the Daytona 500, and then had trouble in California after, according to his comments, making a mistake exiting turn turn at Auto Club Speedway.

Kahne spun towards the infield grass to bring out the race's second caution on lap 94, heavily damaging his splitter and messing up his alignment.

"I just didn't catch it. I got loose and I didn't catch it," said Kahne after finishing 34th. "I did a bad job."

Finally, for the feel-good story of the week, consider Scott Speed. He finished 11th in Sunday's race, his best finish on a non-restrictor plate track in his NASCAR Sprint Cup career. But better than stats, it seems that Speed is finally feeling comfortable in NASCAR after a very trying 2009.

With edits for clarity, Speed posted this comment on Twitter right after the race: "Yeah! So I haven't totally forgot how to drive, great for my confidence, last year was harder than anyone will really know."

If driver confidence plays a major factor in achieving success, Speed is certainly on the right track.