Darron Cummings / AP

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was happy before the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, but disappointed with his sixth-place finish afterward.

COMMENTARY

By Mike Harris

updated 9:15 p.m. ET Aug. 6, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS - It’s an all-star battle that NASCAR and most of the fans would love to see at the front of the pack.

Instead, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr., the three biggest names in the stock car sport, are fighting it out at the bottom of the top 10 with time running out.

The talented trio are racing desperately to stay in the 10-man field for the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship that will begin after the next five races. And, Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, all three may have saved their seasons.

For Gordon, a four-time winner of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, his 16th-place finish Sunday might have been the best job he’s ever done in the race that is second only to the Daytona 500 in NASCAR prestige.

“When you get three laps down at this place, it’s hard to come back,” said the relieved Gordon. “We were just fortunate to get back on the lead lap. That was one of the hardest 16ths we’ve ever had. But we can’t afford to have those kinds of problems.”

The four-time series champion, who, along with Earnhardt, failed to make the Chase last year and has dedicated this season to getting back into position to win another title, began the race on a disastrous note when a rear sway bar broke on lap seven.

It took three pit stops for Gordon’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team to replace the broken part. By that time, he was three laps down.

“It just snapped in turn four and we had to replace it,” Gordon said. “It’s a shame because we had such a good car and that put us so far behind right from the get-go.”

But Gordon remained patient, taking advantage of the NASCAR rule that allows the first driver a lap or more down to regain a lap each time a caution flag comes out.

With plenty of yellow flags, Gordon found himself back on the lead lap but in 40th place after 86 of the 160 laps on the 2.5-mile oval. He was able to steadily move forward the rest of the way, staying out of trouble and moving to eighth in the standings, eight points ahead of 2005 Brickyard winner and defending Cup champion Stewart and 15 in front of fan favorite Earnhardt.

“We needed to get back onto the lead lap a little bit sooner and get track position, but you’re not in control in that situation,” Gordon said. “You don’t want anybody else to get a lap down and be ahead of you. One car did just that at one point or we would have gotten back on the lead lap one caution sooner.