[updated 11/1/11, 0819hrs] In a heart-stopping bit of news when I first saw the headlines, it’s been reported that the Gulfstream 150 that Rick Hendrick and his wife, Linda, were in, lost its brakes and ran off the runway at Key West International Airport.
The mishap took place Monday night.
For a split-second, fears from the 2004 event in Martinsville invaded my mind when I first saw the headline… but thank God everyone came out of this OK.
The Hendricks only received minor injuries.
The pilot knew they had lost their brakes before landing and fortunately the airport had just recently installed a 600-foot overrun on the runway they landed on.
The jet went an additional 100 feet beyond that.
The plane, technically, is owned by Jimmie Johnson Racing II Incorporated.
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Rick Hendrick kept saying that we’ll hear about it after the season sometime. I didn’t realize that he meant we’ll hear about crew shuffles almost immediately after the final race where Jimmie Johnson wins his fifth straight championship in a row. But under the roof of Hendrick Motorsports, trouble was simmering to a point of brewing.
Jeff Gordon finished 9th in the standings with 17 top-10′s. Mark Martin, 13th… with 11 top-10′s and Dale Earnhardt Jr came in 21st with only 8 top-10′s.
Rick Hendrick made some changes at “The Inn.”
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Crew chief Lance McGrew couldn’t tame the beast and was moved to the No. 5 of Mark Martin.
- Jeff Gordon: Almost but not quite, but with a decent show for the year, Steve Letarte moves into the box-top of Dale Earnhardt Jr’s No. 88 car.
- Mark Martin: Alan Gustafson moves over to helm Jeff Gordon’s team.
But wait, that’s not all.
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