Early-season woes frustrate JGR teammates

~ Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin struggle to find Victory Lane.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Tony Stewart made outrageous remarks on his radio show and teammate Denny Hamlin openly criticized his team's performance. Controversial at the time, both incidents now seem rather tame considering how frustrated the two must be.

The Joe Gibbs Racing teammates should probably have a combined six victories this season, but instead are winless through 12 events.

And after both came up empty at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Sunday, when their gas tanks nearly went dry and they each had to relinquish the lead for a splash of fuel, it's a wonder they didn't implode.

The record book will forever show that Hendrick Motorsports won nine of the first 12 races this season. Because there is no stat for races lost -- something Stewart and Hamlin have seemingly perfected this year -- it will never show that JGR has been just as good as Hendrick so far.

Hendrick drivers have made an art this season of leading the only lap that counts, a practice that has led to five straight wins -- nine of 10 overall.

Gibbs drivers, meanwhile, have mastered the art of dominating the meaningless part of the races. Stewart and Hamlin have combined to lead 1,259 laps this season, and they've got absolutely nothing to show for it.

"Sitting where we're at right now, it seems like everything is stacked against us," said Greg Zipadelli, Stewart's crew chief. "There's probably four or five we could've won easily this year and things just didn't go our way."

Stewart was on pace to win the season-opening Daytona 500, but a fluke crash with Kurt Busch knocked him out of the race. He dominated for 35 laps but finished 43rd. He was gracious in defeat, though, chalking it up as one of them racin' deals as he left the track with the race still roaring around him.

He was less than thrilled three races later, when he led 121 laps at Atlanta but debris cautions kept eating up his lead. And when Jimmie Johnson passed him for the win following a late pit stop, Stewart expressed his frustration with an obscene gesture.

Bristol the next week was brutal for Stewart. Nobody could touch him there -- well, not until mechanical issues took him out of contention. He led 257 laps, but finished 35th and was testy on the radio as he coaxed his car home -- a sure sign that all these near-misses were really beginning to bug him.

It festered into Phoenix, where those pesky debris cautions again cost him a shot at the win after leading 132 laps. Two days later, he blasted NASCAR on his national radio show and compared the sport to professional wrestling.

Stewart had been relatively quiet in the month since then, which paved the way for his teammate to take over.

Hamlin could have won Bristol after Stewart fell off the pace, but after leading 177 laps, a late mechanical problem dropped him to 10th. His pit crew blundered on pit road a week later in Martinsville, costing him a shot at running for the win after leading 125 laps.

Hamlin himself lost the race the next week in Phoenix, taking himself out of contention by speeding on pit road. And Darlington? Well, that race was his until another crew mistake sent him spiraling backward in track position.

It brought both drivers into Charlotte aching for a win, and in the closing laps of the 600, it appeared one of them would finally lead the only lap that really matters.

But neither had enough fuel in the tank to make it to the finish and each pulled off the track for a splash of gas that cost them the win. In a bittersweet twist, third teammate J.J. Yeley had plenty of gas and drove his way to a career-best second-place finish. Stewart settled for sixth, Hamlin was a disappointing ninth, and both were pretty bitter about it.

"Very frustrating," Hamlin said. "We had the best car at the end. We just didn't have the right fuel tank. We just couldn't afford to come in and top-off like some of those guys did and they lucked out and got a good finish."