Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a tough day on road track

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s recent momentum hit the brakes in California.

The popular NASCAR driver was third in the Sprint Cup Series standings before the race Sunday at Infineon Raceway, but he had dropped to seventh — and his crumpled car was on its way back to the shop — when the race ended.

After starting 18th, Earnhardt’s Chevrolet was collected with several other cars in a crash on Lap 37 of the 110-lap race.

“It knocked a hole in the radiator and it ended up hurting the engine,” Earnhardt said. “They just spun out in front of me … and I just kind of ran into somebody with the front of my car.”

He finished 41st in the 43-car field.

Earnhardt has gone three years without a win but his performance has markedly improved this season. And while he’s always struggled on twisty road courses, he said Friday he was trying to stay positive.

“I’m not a big fan of the place,” Earnhardt said after his accident Sunday. “But maybe one of these days.”

In 12 starts, he’s never finished in the top 10.

Gordon’s surprise

Jeff Gordon, the four-time Cup champion and Earnhardt’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, holds the Infineon record with five Cup victories in his career.

But for much of the race Sunday, Gordon’s No. 24 Chevrolet was struggling, so no one was more surprised that he finished second than Gordon.

“There wasn’t one corner I was good in,” said Gordon, a native of nearby Vallejo. “We really missed the setup at the beginning of this race. We made a lot of adjustments. I didn’t really think any of those things were making a big difference.”

In the closing laps, though, “I don’t know if the track came to us [or] what happened,” he said. “It seems like that setup, the adjustments we made, being in cleaner air, started working for me.”

Gordon, with two wins this season, is ninth in the Cup standings.

Wrecking crews

As is typical at Infineon, drivers repeatedly ran into each other as they raced around its multiple turns.

Juan Pablo Montoya had contact with Brad Keselowski, as did Denny Hamlin with A.J. Allmendinger and Joey Logano with Robby Gordon.

“That was crazy just like always,” Allmendinger said. “I got into a couple guys and got them angry and then I had one guy dump me. Everybody was running into each other.”

Added Montoya: “It’s hard when people don’t know how to race on road courses and think they do.”

james.peltz@latimes.com