In the aftermath of a brutally abusive opening race in the seventh annual Chase, "tight" was the best way to describe the air around Jimmie Johnson and his four-time defending champion Hendrick Motorsports team.

After a one-lap-down, 25th-place finish in the Sylvania 300 -- at the same New Hampshire Motor Speedway venue where Johnson had won this summer -- Johnson and his crew were left with tightly-focused eyes, tightly-pursed lips and maybe a little tightness in the stomach thanks to an unofficial 92-point deficit to Chase leader Denny Hamlin.

"No, it wasn't [the kind of day we wanted]," said Johnson, who leaves NHMS seventh in the standings. "It's just unfortunate, but it is the way it is. We showed up, we did everything that we could. We had a decent car and got up to the top five, top 10 but just didn't turn out with the finish we wanted. We'll go home, get to work and come back next week and try to do it again."