Toyota crushed as Gibbs team falls

Tony Stewart can't expect to finish above fifth in the Chase this year. AP Tim Tuttle's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Tim. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

Three races into the Chase, Toyota's optimism toward winning a Sprint Cup championship in its second season has been crushed. It must be a devastating feeling to the manufacturer, which must wonder how it could have gone so wrong so quickly. There are still races to be run and won and that would ease the pain, but the big prize has been painfully lost.

Nobody could have seen this coming. Toyota's successful recruitment of Joe Gibbs Racing had put three of its drivers into the Chase, with Kyle Busch the No. 1 seed. Tony Stewart had won the championship from the same position in 2005. Even though Stewart hadn't performed spectacularly this season, his experience and mental toughness figured to lift his game and make him a threat. Denny Hamlin qualified for the Chase for the third straight year. He was the long shot in the stable, and sometimes they pay off.

The Gibbs' teams have fallen flat on their faces. Stewart's eighth and Hamlin's ninth at New Hampshire are their two top-10s in the Chase. Hamlin is the top Gibbs' driver in the points, 10th and 243 behind leader Jimmie Johnson, followed by Stewart (-255) and Busch (-311).

Hamlin knows the championship is out of reach and has reset his goals. "For me, it's a top-five in points," he said. "That's about all we can do."

Busch and Stewart can't expect to finish any higher than fifth, either.

Busch has gone through three straight miserable races, with mechanical problems playing a central role. At New Hampshire, the team forgot to connect a sway bar and Busch, in his effort to drive the misbehaving car, spun into a wreck. He could have recovered from 34th, but a blown engine at Dover left him 43rd and left him little hope of a championship.

At Kansas, intermittent fuel pressure caused problems, but Busch also didn't have a car that handled well. Neither did his teammates. Busch finished 28th, unbelievably his best result in the Chase.

"The car was sputtering and not running clean from almost the very start," Busch said. "It was just really inconsistent. Sometimes it was loose, sometimes it was tight. I couldn't get it to turn in the center of the corner and it just turned into a long day."

The No. 18 team worked on the engine and worked on the handling. Nothing worked to make either better.

"We came in, checked all the lines and couldn't find anything," crew chief Steve Addington said. "But we've got a fuel pressure issue. We'll go back and just dissect the whole car to see what the problem was and see if we can find anything. This is the first time [for the fuel problem]. There's a first time for everything the last three weeks."

Hamlin wrestled with the No. 11 from the start and finished 11th.

"We didn't have it," Hamlin said. "We struggled for the balance all day. We went from loose to tight, back and forth. We were able to make way. It's nothing like we're going to need if we're going to compete for the championship. We have a situation where we are all trying new stuff and trying to get better."

Stewart's No. 20 wasn't very good, either, but his failure to keep his cool took him from a likely top-15 to 40th.

Stewart was pitted directly behind Brian Vickers' Toyota, which delayed Stewart leaving his pit box three times. On the first stop, Vickers drove across the exiting Carl Edwards. Contact caused both to spin and stop. Stewart had to back up before exiting. On the second, Vickers stopped at the back line of the pit box and Stewart had to back up to leave.

The third incident sent Stewart's anger over the top. One of Vickers' crewmen was in his way and he had stop and wait again.

Eleven laps later, Stewart was passing Vickers on the inside in Turn 4 when the No. 20 made a sudden move up the track and hit Vickers. Stewart didn't comment on the incident immediately following the race -- he didn't comment on anything -- and that was probably a wise move. Stewart didn't have to deny it was intentional.

The contact cost Stewart far more than Vickers. Vickers continued. Stewart twisted around and mowed the grass with his front splitter, breaking it. He was forced to pit to have it replaced and finished seven laps down.

What's left for the Gibbs' team to salvage from the remaining seven races? Wins and Talladega may be its best shot.

Toyota has put tremendous emphasis on its restrictor-plate program since the middle of last year. Busch won at Talladega in April, with Hamlin third and Vickers fifth. Dave Blaney, for Bill Davis Racing, and Hamlin were third and fourth at the Talladega Chase race last year.

It's been a turnaround season for Toyota, no doubt, with three drivers making the Chase. Nine wins is remarkable, but eight have been with Busch. Any manufacturer can only take its teams so far and then it's up to the teams to complete the job. But Toyota also has to bear some responsibility, particularly for Busch's engine problems, for the Gibbs' collapse in the Chase. For both, a season that had so much success will wind down with serious disappointment.