AUTO RACING

Gordon: I forgot how hard this was

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INDIANAPOLIS — For substitute driver Jeff Gordon, practice didn’t make perfect on Friday afternoon.

Instead, it reminded Gordon just how difficult driving a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car can be.

In all fairness, Gordon has scant experience with the 2016 competition package, a version of which was used on a test basis only at Kentucky and Darlington last year in what was supposed to be Gordon’s final season in Sprint Cup.

But concussion-like symptoms have forced Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of the No. 88 Chevrolet and simultaneously pressed Gordon into unexpected service. To say the least, Gordon’s first lap at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was an eye-opener.

Gordon hadn’t driven a Cup car since the 2015 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and he had less than three days to prepare after returning from vacation in France on Tuesday.

“Being out of the car that long and not really having a lot of experience with this package, it was a tall task, I’ll be honest,” Gordon said. “It was one of the most challenging days I’ve had in a race car to try to get comfortable, be consistent, have the speed and give good feedback.

“I mean, I still love this track and I’m glad that we are doing this this weekend, because I think that helps me have the confidence to be able to learn faster, but it’s tough. It was tough. That first run I was like ‘Wow, I forgot how hard of work this is.’”

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s exit from the No. 88 Chevrolet because of concussion-like symptoms couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time for Hendrick Motorsports.

The organization that dominated the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for much of the first decade of the 21st century has fallen on hard times lately, as Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske have gained ascendancy in the sport.

Hendrick driver Jimmie Johnson won for the second time this season in the fifth race of the year, at his home track in Fontana, Calif., but Gibbs and Penske have combined to win 12 of the 14 races since then.

It’s true that Kurt Busch triumphed at Pocono and Tony Stewart at Sonoma in equipment supplied by Hendrick, but the flagship organization can count only Johnson’s two victories this season. Even before Earnhardt stepped out of his car for last week’s New Hampshire race, Chase Elliott in eighth place was the leading Hendrick driver in the Sprint Cup standings.

Johnson, a six-time champion and a perennial top-10 machine, has but one finish better than 12th in his last 10 races, and as a whole, the team have been plagued by an uncharacteristic spate of accidents.

“It seems like when it rains, it pours,” said team owner Rick Hendrick.