Talladega Dateline: Hendrick Motorsports Fails to Tame the High Banks

The dice haven't exactly been rolling in favor of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers in the Chase, but if qualifying at Talladega is any indication, the four HMS drivers are prepared to dominate the high banks.

Mark Martin captured the pole at a blazing 181.367 mph and five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champ Jimmie Johnson will fill out the front row.

Johnson won the race in the spring with Dale Earnhardt Jr. doing the tandem-push as they crossed the finish line.

The driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet vowed that he owed one to Earnhardt after that race, but he has yet to make good on that deal.

Junior will be starting sixth in the Good Sam Club 500 and his teammate, Jeff Gordon, will be starting in the fifth-place slot.

It appears Hendrick Motorsports has honed their superspeedway program, and they are ready to flex their muscle at Talladega and bring home the 200th win for Rick Hendrick.

Johnson's stunning crash at Charlotte dropped him to eighth in the point standings, 35 markers out of the lead.

He is in a deep hole that requires him to win a couple times in the remaining races, with the points leaders finding a bit of trouble if he has any hope of contending for that sixth consecutive title.

 Johnson will run in tandem with Earnhardt and his Mountain Dew/National Guard No. 88. Junior is consistently able to find his way to the lead at Talladega, and if he is to win this season, this may be his best shot.

A win for Earnhardt would break his winless streak of 124 races, Junior Nation would find their patience rewarded and NASCAR would have their most popular driver as the focus of media everywhere.

Earnhardt is out of contention for a title, but a win could provide the momentum that will consummate the union of Junior with his new team, led by Steve Letarte, and make them true contenders in 2012.

Gordon has fallen out of title contention having dropped to 11th in the point standings, 66 points out of the lead. Earnhardt is ninth in the standings, 60 points out of the lead.

Mark Martin has had fun at Hendrick Motorsports this year, but his final season has hardly been what he hoped for with him sitting 20th in the point standings.

Martin would love to win at Talladega or anywhere for that matter, but his job may be to push his stablemates who are in the Chase. Martin works well with Gordon, so that will be the other tandem pair of HMS cars.

Team orders are always non-existent so it is said, but the reality is that getting Johnson and Earnhardt to the front in the final laps is priority one at HMS.

Perhaps, it will be time for the driver of the No. 48 to pay his debt to Junior.

Though the HMS cars look to have parity and have come to the Talladega shootout with their guns loaded, one can't forget how unforgiving racing on the high banks can be.

When it is time for the checkered flag to wave, no doubt in a green-white-checker scenario, it may be anybody's game. A non-Chase driver could easily spoil the best of plans for those in the Chase.

Can Earnhardt Jr. capture that elusive win and can Johnson start his rebound in the Chase? Stay tuned, because Hendrick Motorsports is prepared to tame the high banks at Talladega.

Update: Clint Bowyer won the 100th race for Richard Childress Racing at Talladega.

None of the Hendrick drivers were ever really in contention for a win. It was a disappointing showing for HMS with Martin finishing 20th, Earnhardt, Johnson and Gordon finishing 25th, 26th and 27th respectively.

With four races remaining, it appears Johnson's sixth title is no longer a possibility with his 50 point deficit in the Chase standings.