I did suspect that it had to at least be cracked already as it was the only thing that made sense... The rare times I've put any of my bikes in the car I am careful to not put the drive-train on the bottom.

I am just thankful that I didn't drive all the way to the park and then have this happen when I tried to unload the bike there...at least I didn't burn as much gas as I normally do. The bike was in at an odd angle, and my LBS guy had to take the wheel off to get it out of the car. I was afraid the entire shifter would have to be replaced and thankfully it didn't