5 Things we learned at Phoenix

[Ego74]

SI.com - Writers - Lars Anderson: Five things we learned at Phoenix - Sunday April 13, 2008 1:48PM

Five things we learned on Saturday night under the lights at Phoenix International Raceway:


1. The Hendrick magic is returning.
As Jimmie Johnson walked into the infield media center at PIR after winning his first race of the season, he was stopped by his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, who had already changed into a white golf shirt and blue jeans. "Nice job, dude," Gordon said. "It's about time."
Gordon was joking --- sort of. A year after Hendrick won 18 of the 36 events, Johnson notched the team's first victory of the season. The Hendrick drought had been one of the most talked about subjects in the garage for the last month-and-a-half, but as I wrote in the magazine two weeks ago, the entire organization has suffered this season because late last year, when the other organizations were testing for 2008, Hendrick was focusing on winning the 2007 title. Yet no team in the sport has tested more since Easter than Johnson's No. 48 crew, and their work has obviously paid off. On Saturday he led a race high 120 laps en route to winning his 34th career race.


The real credit for the victory, however, should go to his crew chief Chad Knaus, who not only has overseen the team's recent testing efforts, but also ordered Johnson to stay out on the track late and gamble that they had enough fuel to make it to the finish line while most of the other leaders made quick, splash-and-go stops for gas.
"Based on what we've seen here in the course of the last few weeks, I think where we've made our ground up as a team," said Knaus. "The 48 team isn't necessarily on where to find the speed in the car, but more so what not to do to the racecar. It's a new book. It's a new thing that we're trying to learn. You know, you have a playbook. Any time that you can take and cross off something that list that says, OK, you know that's not going to work, well, that's an area that you don't go to. That saves you time in practice. That saves you from mistakes during a race. It saves you a lot of things. I think that's what we're learning at this point."


2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is getting closer to ending his 70-race winless streak.
Moments after he hopped out of his car on Saturday night, Little E retreated to his hauler where he collapsed on the front steps. The desert heat had sapped Earnhardt, yet he was still all smiles because, though he didn't win, he once again led laps (87, to be precise) and had a car that, for long stretches, was the class of the field. On the day before the race, Earnhardt's crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., met with Chad Knaus, and Eury implemented much of the No. 48 team's setup into Little E's car. The result of this teamwork was impressive, and it bodes well for Earnhardt's future.
But the No. 88 team won't reach Victory Lane until they figure out how to perform better on long runs. All season long the handling on Earnhardt's Chevy has tended to grow progressively worse as the laps add up between pit stops. This was his undoing late in the race at PIR, and it's one thing that has kept Earnhardt out of the winner's circle in '08.


3. Mark Martin hasn't lost his racing touch.
For a stretch of about 20 minutes late on Saturday night, the 50-year-old Martin seized the lead. Driving Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s old No. 8 Chevy, Martin, who's only competing part-time this season, led 68 laps and was in first place. What was even sweeter for him and his crew at Dale Earnhardt Inc. was that he passed Earnhardt to grab the lead.
But Martin had to make a quick pit stop for fuel with 11 laps left in the race and surrendered the lead to Johnson. Still, Martin, who wound up fifth, proved that he's far from washed up.


4. Matt Kenseth is struggling.
This season has not started well for Kenseth. He only has one top-five finish (fifth at Fontana) and heading into PIR was stuck in 13th in the points. Kenseth is still getting used to life with new crew chief Chip Bolin, who replaced Robbie Reiser in the offseason. Though Bolin has been on Kenseth's team since its first year in 1999, there's a big difference between being an engineer (Bolin's former job) and crew chief, and there appears to be a gap in their communication when it comes to making adjustments to the car that has yet to be bridged.
This is causing Kenseth's frustration level to rise, and what happened at PIR did little to mollify the 2003 champ. On Lap 41, as he was struggling in the back of the pack, Kenseth hit the wall and had a right front tire go down. Seconds after the scrap, Kenseth said over his radio, "That's what happens when we don't do our jobs." Apparently Kenseth was referring to both the poor setup of his No. 17 Ford and the poor performance of his pit crew, which for the last five years has been among the best in the sport.
Kenseth then went to the garage for an extended repair and finished 38th. He's now 15th in the points and very much heading in the wrong direction.


5. The off-weekend comes at a good time for Ryan Newman.
Since winning the Daytona 500, Newman has tumbled like a boulder down a mountain in the standings, falling from first to 12th. On Sunday, for the second time in four races, he suffered an engine failure, and this time it left him with a 43rd place finish. Said Newman, "Our engine company needs to get their stuff together."

[The General]

Robby Gordon is still struggling.