With Gordon and Johnson, 2007 is year of Hendrick

Short-track racing has always been an exercise in frustration management. Sunday's Subway 500 from Martinsville Speedway was no exception. At the conclusion of the caution-plagued race, it seemed like there were drivers with gripes all up and down pit road. As you look back on the race weekend, spare a thought for Clint Bowyer.

Here's a guy who entered the Chase with no race wins and handicapped by many to have no shot at the title. But after five races, beginning with a breakthrough victory, he arrived in Martinsville as a true contender within an arm's length of the lead, and most likely the only non-Hendrick Motorsports driver with a legitimate shot at the title.

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Then came Sunday. Even after a solid ninth-place finish at a track where he's admittedly not particularly good, Bowyer did not leave Martinsville happy. The two drivers ahead of him in points managed to finish first and third -- dropping him from 78 to 115 points behind Chase leader Jeff Gordon, and from 10 to 62 points behind second-place Jimmie Johnson. Those are big gaps to make up, and one tough trend to break with only four races remaining.

It's not like Bowyer, or anyone else for that matter, didn't see it coming. Between Gordon and Johnson, they now have 11 career wins at Martinsville Speedway, including three in a row for Johnson.

The weekend's performance by Johnson and Gordon was just the latest chapter in what has proven to be an astonishing display of dominance by Hendrick Motorsports this season.

Consider the facts: In the first 12 races of the season, Hendrick Motorsports won nine of them, with all four Hendrick drivers getting in on the act. Of the 32 races contested so far, Hendrick Motorsports has won 15 of them, with Gordon and Johnson accounting for 13 of those.

There was a self-inflicted victory drought of sorts for HMS between the June race at Michigan and the night race at Bristol, precipitated by the six-race suspensions of Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte for Car of Tomorrow body template violations at Sonoma. During that time, the rest of the field had the opportunity to step up and claim a little of the spotlight for themselves -- Tony Stewart with three wins, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch with two wins each and Juan Montoya's first Cup victory.

Since then, HMS resumed its winning ways at about the same rate as before, including three consecutive victories in six Chase races.

Of course, the seeds for this season's success were sewn long before the Daytona 500 in February. Since 1984, team owner Rick Hendrick has exercised a great eye for talent with the likes of Tim Richmond, Darrell Waltrip, Ricky Rudd and Ken Schrader all finishing in the top five in driver points before Gordon began a run of Cup championships for HMS in 1995 followed by Terry Labonte in 1996 and Gordon winning two more in 1997 and 1998. Gordon won one more in 2001 and Jimmie Johnson won his first in 2006.

It's not just the drivers who are scouted by Hendrick. Many of the sport's best crew chiefs, engine builders and specialists of every description have found a home and opportunity for growth at Hendrick Motorsports throughout the years. And many of them have spent the vast majority of their careers at HMS.

They have because Rick Hendrick is not afraid to invest heavily in his commitment to win. It's a rare piece of technology that contributes to a race team's success that exists outside the walls of Hendrick Motorsports. But more than raw technology, it's HMS' investment in the process of racecar development that secured their successes this season.

In 2006, Hendrick correctly envisioned the role that the COT would play in the 2007 season. He also foresaw and understood the opportunities for the first team to master the new chassis. Early on, he invested in an aggressive, yet discreet testing and development program that yielded a leg up on the rest of the field that the organization enjoys to this very day.

It's this commitment to winning and culture of success that also helped HMS sign Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- the most valuable free agent in the history of the sport -- earlier this summer.

Whether it's in personnel, technology or processes, most all HMS investments are of the long-term variety. Immediate success is seemingly not the goal. Rather, long-term success is. That is the secret behind an organization's ability to overcome minor setbacks as well as major tragedies, as was the case in 2004 when so many friends, family and employees of Hendrick Motorsports lost their lives in a tragic plane accident. (read more)

Here in 2007, HMS finds itself in a fairly unique situation: it's top two teams are first and second in the Chase, practically competing amongst themselves for NASCAR's top prize. Watching how this intra-team competition ultimately goes down will be fascinating.

With all due respect to the rest of the field, it's hard to imagine any team with a shot at displacing both Gordon and Johnson from the title. I'm not saying it can't be done, I just can't imagine anyone pulling it off given all that the 24 and 48 teams have going for them. And even if it does happen, it won't be enough to undo 2007 as Hendrick Motorsports' year.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.