Updated Nov. 5
The Chase was made for Jimmie Johnson.
When summer has turned to fall over the past several years, nobody has come close to matching Johnson's pace, though it has amounted to only one title ... so far.
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| Texas is Jimmie Johnson's third consecutive win. (Getty Images) |
He has finished in the top five in 50 percent of the Chase races and in the top 10 68 percent of the time.
And let's not forget 2003, a year before the Chase was instituted, in which he just missed running down Matt Kenseth for the championship. Down the stretch that season, he finished no worse than third over the final six races.
Johnson says he has been asked many times about why he has enjoyed so much success as the season winds down, but he's as stumped as anyone to come up with an explanation.
"I think tracks have something to do with it," Johnson said after prevailing in a thrilling duel with Matt Kenseth at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday.
| Chase standings | |||
| Driver | Points | Deficit | |
| 1. Jimmie Johnson | 6,723 | --- | |
| 2. Jeff Gordon | 6,646 | -77 | |
| 3. Clint Bowyer | 6,377 | -346 | |
| 4. Matt Kenseth | 6,298 | -425 | |
| 5. Kyle Busch | 6,293 | -430 | |
| Complete Chase | Traditional points | |||
"There are good tracks that we see in the spring and fall, and that has a lot to do with it. We just show up and we do the same job every week that we always do, but there are certain tracks that we are better at."
Crew chief Chad Knaus is a big believer in momentum and the ability of the 48 team to run with it.
"It's a great thing," Knaus said. "It's a very powerful tool as long as you're able to keep it in check. Momentum can just as much be an enemy as it can be an asset because you'll see guys go out there and they will start to gain momentum, get a little cocky, a little lax and have a mistake.
"I think our team does a good job of taking momentum and turning it into a good thing and using it to almost like an energizer. When you go to the racetrack feeling comfortable with the decisions that you make, it makes me feel more comfortable when I'm making the pit calls on the pit box that the guys actually have good pit stops; so it boosts everybody's energy level up a good bit."
Power Rankings after Texas:
| POWER RANKINGS | ||
| Current | Driver | Previous |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 1 |
| Even if Johnson were to finish last and Mark Martin were to win and lead the most laps in the next race at Texas, he would still hold the points lead by 23 points. | ||
| 2 | Mark Martin | 2 |
| There was a time when Martin had a bit of luck at Talladega. From 1988 through 2001 he had 18 top 10s in 28 races. In 12 races since 2002, he has just two top 10s with nine finishes outside the top 20. | ||
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | 3 |
| He has four victories in his past 12 trips to Talladega. However, he finished outside the top 10 in the eight races he did not win, with finishes of 19th or worse in his past four visits. | ||
| 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 4 |
| He captured second at Talladega in the spring of 2008, but has finished no better than 15th in his other five visits to the track. | ||
| 5 | Tony Stewart | 5 |
| Though he won last fall at Talladega, he has finished 22nd or worse in five of his last seven trips to the track with three DNFs by way of crash. | ||
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | 6 |
| He has led at least one lap in all eight of his visits to Talladega, but has just two top 10s to show for it with six finishes of 21st or worse. | ||
| 7 | Kurt Busch | 7 |
| He has three finishes of 21st or worse in his past four visits to Talladega after finishing outside the top 10 just three times in his first 14 trips. | ||
| 8 | Kasey Kahne | 8 |
| Sunday marked his second second-place finish at Talladega. In 12 starts at the track, those are his only top 10s. | ||
| 9 | Ryan Newman | 9 |
| His 36th-place finish Sunday was his sixth of 33rd or worse in 16 starts at Talladega. "We had this race back here in the spring and complained about cars getting airborne and now ironically I'm the guy that gets upside down," Newman said. "I wish NASCAR would do something. It was a boring race for the fans. That's not something anybody wants to see; at least I hope not. If they do, go home because you don't belong here." | ||
| 10 | Kyle Busch | 10 |
| His win in the spring of 2008 is his lone top 10 finish in 10 starts at Talladega. | ||
| 11 | Carl Edwards | 11 |
| After three consecutive top 10 finishes at Talladega between 2005-06, he has finished outside the top 10 in his past six trips to the track, but at least he wasn't flying into the catchfence like in his last visit. | ||
| 12 | Matt Kenseth | 12 |
| Like his Roush-Fenway Racing teammate Edwards, he had three consecutive top 10 finishes at Talladega between 2005-06, but has failed to finish in the top 10 at the track since. | ||
| 13 | Greg Biffle | 13 |
| Finished a Talladega career-best fourth on Sunday, his second consecutive top 10 at the track after finishing no better than 13th in his first 12 visits. | ||
| 14 | Clint Bowyer | 14 |
| He won't complain too much about a 12th-place finish considering he has finished 35th or worse in four of his eight visits. | ||
| 15 | Kevin Harvick | 15 |
| His 21st-place finish Sunday was his fifth consecutive finish of 20th or worse at Talladega. He has been running at the finish of all 18 of his starts at Talladega. | ||
