So, no, the tide isn't turning, and Hendrick's Chevy guys are still on top of the NASCAR world

  And it was a lovely day in the neighborhood (Photo: IMS)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   INDIANAPOLIS
   Rick Hendrick's dominance at Indianapolis Motor Speedway continues, with the 1-2 finish by Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin in Sunday's Brickyard 400.
   And rival car owner Jack Roush's scorecard here is still winless.
   Still, while no one had anything for Chip Ganassi's Juan Pablo Montoya – except NASCAR with a 'black flag' speeding penalty – Roush had one man who ran well enough to contend: Greg Biffle, who carried the flag for Roush, though he had to yield third at the end to ensure he had enough gas to finish the 400.
   Carl Edwards, another Roush star, had a surprisingly weak run. He started at the back of the pack and wound up 15th.
  "We had a really good car, it was just too bad we had to let up and save fuel at the end," Biffle said. "I had to let Tony Stewart go by there at the end to save fuel.  I really hated to do that. 
    "It's hard for a driver with a fast race car to let up, but that's what we needed to do to finish.
    "We had to finish.  I was thinking it was going to be Michigan all over again, where we ran it out with a half lap left.
    "They were telling me in the pits we might not make it on fuel, so we couldn't run the car wide-open."
    The real story, though, was probably the crowd. Yes, it was down; the place holds some 280,000, and the crowd was 175,000 to 185,000. But that's still the largest crowd of the season.
  "I think the fans got to see a great race…and we're thankful they came out, after what happened last year," Biffle said. "It was nice to see such a great turnout.
    "And hats off to Goodyear for getting the tire right."
    While the tire was good, the aerodynamics – in these tight corners – was as difficult as ever for drivers to deal with, and there was little passing.
   "At least for me it was right next to impossible to pass," Roush's Matt Kenseth, 10th, said. "You could catch a car and get two or three car lengths from it, and then you'd just kind of stall out."
    After showing one of the quickest cars in Saturday practice, Edwards had nothing for Sunday's race.
    "It was long and difficult," Edwards conceded.
   "We put ourselves in a box in qualifying. I didn't realize how difficult that was going to make the day  -- Passing was very, very tough here.
   "Once things got strung out, it was very difficult to pass. It's just that everyone's cars are so close, and we depend on air enough (for cornering downforce) that you could run about as fast as the guy in front of you."
   Still the tires were very good.  
   "Goodyear did a great job with the tires, that's for sure," Edwards said. "You've got to commend them for the effort that they put forth on this. 
    "I can't imagine how much money they spent to make this a great race and a safe race for all of us."