Gordon, Kahne, Hamlin heading in reverse as Chase nears

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Time is running out in the race to make the Chase.

Jeff Gordon's 42nd-place finish drops him three spots in the standings to ninth. (AP)

And for Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne and Denny Hamlin, the clock is ticking louder.

The trio suffered dismal days in Sunday's 400 at Michigan International Speedway and their hopes to make this year's Chase took significant hits.

Gordon's disappointing season continued when after making contact with Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson, Gordon cut a tire and hit the wall ending any hope for a decent finish in the 23rd race of the year.

"We always try to have a lot of respect for one another out there and it got really dicey on that restart," Gordon said of the early-race incident. "We got three and four wide and my car was really good rolling through the middle there and I guess Tony got to the outside of the 48.

"It just looked like Tony kind of came down and there was just no room to move because we were all so tight coming off there."

After making contact with Stewart and Johnson, it only took a few more laps before Gordon's cut tire blew and sent the four-time champion into the backstretch wall.

Gordon came into the weekend sixth in the standings and without a win. Rather than solidifying his spot in the Chase and picking up a victory along with its lucrative bonus points, Gordon slinks out of Michigan with a 42nd-place finish, tumbling to ninth in the standings.

Another week and another addition to Gordon's rising frustration level?

"No, not at all," Gordon said. "We're doing our thing like we do every weekend. We work hard, drive hard and try to do the best job we can. There is no pressing anything. If the car has got it, I've got it. If the pit crew's got it, then we show it. And when it doesn't, it doesn't. I mean you just go to work when it's not."

Unfortunately for Gordon it's been "not" for much of the season. Week after week, the No. 24 team seems to be off the pace from the moment the car rolls off the hauler and then forced to play catch-up during the weekend leading into the race.

But Gordon refuses to give up and is committed to working hard in hopes of turning around one of the most frustrating seasons of his career.

"That's all we can do," Gordon said. "As another option, if my having a temper tantrum was going to fix things, I'd do that too, but I know that's not going to fix it. All we can do is go out there and focus and do our jobs. We've had one of the best weekends we've had in a long time and that (today's incident) was just really unfortunate.