Hendrick Motorsports has disastrous qualifying session at Phoenix

AVONDALE, AZ - MARCH 11: The car of Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Pro Services Chevrolet, is towed through the garage area after an incident during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 11, 2016 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)
AVONDALE, AZ - MARCH 11: The car of Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Pro Services Chevrolet, is towed through the garage area after an incident during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 11, 2016 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)
AVONDALE, AZ – MARCH 11: The car of Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Pro Services Chevrolet, is towed through the garage area after an incident during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 11, 2016 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

Three of the four cars of one of the most powerful teams in NASCAR had issues in qualifying at Phoenix International Raceway Friday night. Only one of the four cars made it to the final round of qualifying, but at the end of the session, none of the Hendrick cars will start inside the top 15 Sunday.

The trouble started in the first round. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was outside the top 24 who would advance the second round. After going out early he made another two laps late in the 20-minute session but came up short and failed to advance past the first round for the first time since Richmond last fall, he will start 26th Sunday. The three remaining teams, Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson all made runs in the first round good enough to advance to the second. However, Kahne who had just put down the second fastest lap, slowed entering turn four with smoke exiting the hood around the 8-minute mark forcing NASCAR to halt the session. The car was towed back to the pits and the team reported a blown engine that will need changed. Kahne’s team later said the engine likely went into EFI ‘protection mode’ and essentially blew-up.

“I got out of the car about when it started smoking,” Kahne said.

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Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.