Final Turn: Is there cause for concern at Hendrick?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. admitted it's going to take six or seven consecutive strong weeks for him to get back into the championship picture. Mark Martin got out of his car and simply said see you in Atlanta. And Jimmie Johnson finished with a mangled race car.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway left three of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers with empty pockets this weekend. While Jeff Gordon is parked atop the Sprint Cup Series standings after three solid races, his teammates have struggled.

Hendrick Motorsports

2009 Results

Driver	Avg. Finish	Rank
Jeff Gordon	7.0	1
Jimmie Johnson	21.3	19
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	25.3	29
Mark Martin	32.0	34

Earnhardt was on the cusp of being outside the top 35 before Sunday's 10th-place finish rescued him six positions to 29th in points. It still didn't come cleanly (read more). He was clocked speeding on pit road when he skidded onto pit road, resulting in a pass-through penalty and falling off the lead lap. But he rebounded.

"We've got some good tracks in a row here where we can do that," said Earnhardt, who had multiple pit miscues and a controversial accident at Daytona, then blew up at Fontana. "We've just got to keep our heads on straight."

Of course, pit road was devilish for the two other aforementioned Hendrick drivers who struggled Sunday.

Martin was heading for pit road when his car popped out of gear, then subsequently blew a motor (watch video). For the sentimental fan favorite, it was his second engine trouble in as many weeks which now has him 34th in points.

And although Johnson showed power all weekend and led a race-high 92 laps at Las Vegas, his hard crash with five laps remaining dropped him to a 24th-place finish (watch video). That came well after he had slid past his pit box, then went a lap down because of it. He remained 19th in points following his sluggish start to the season.

Does it all mean the Hendrick camp has cause for concern? Or is it too early to tell?

Remember this: Johnson was 35th in points this time last year, and similar questions have been asked of this team at some point during the last two years. Consequently, Johnson has won the last three championships.

Final Turn: Is there cause for concern at Hendrick?
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