Dover win puts Johnson near lead for a 5th title

DOVER, Del. - Jimmie Johnson heard the talk that he wasn't hungry enough, that his team wasn't determined enough, and that just maybe the competition was too strong this time around.

But if there was any doubt that he can win a fifth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title, Johnson's performance in Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway may have converted the disbelievers.

Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet started on the pole and led early, near the middle, and - most important - at the end, pacing the field for a race-high 191 laps en route to his sixth win in 18 starts at the Monster Mile.

Career victory No. 53 was also his sixth of the season, lifting Johnson four spots in the standings to second, just 35 points behind Denny Hamlin.

"People can read into our performance what they want, but I'm not concerned with [making] statements," Johnson said. "If a lot of that other stuff creeps into your mind, then you're not concentrating on the right things. This was a nice victory, but it's not the prize we want. We want to win this championship. We want to win five in a row."

Jeff Burton, whose No. 31 Chevy finished a distant 2.6 seconds back in second, offered a simple explanation for why Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports crew chief, Chad Knaus, found a winning combination.

"They're not good - they're great," Burton said. "I think they're as seasoned as you can possibly be together. They perform. That's what they do."

Knaus was quick to point out that the win wasn't as easy as it might have looked.

"We really had our hands full this weekend, and had to make some pretty significant changes to the car's setup," Knaus said. "In the end, we could change things, but we really couldn't make the car better. The difference today was definitely the driver."

Hamlin's day may not have ended the way that he wanted, but his ninth-place finish on a track where he typically struggles seemed like a moral victory.

"It's a little frustrating that we still can't get a grasp on this racetrack, but if you would have told me at the beginning of the Chase that we would take a 35-point lead out of Dover, I'd definitely" be happy, Hamlin said.

"I think a lot of people are waiting for us to slip up. I just don't see that happening this time around. I just think our team is too focused at this point and we're running too well for that to happen."

In the second of 10 races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, four other contenders finished in the top 11: Kurt Busch (fourth), Carl Edwards (fifth), Kyle Busch (sixth), and Jeff Gordon (11th).

The rest of the championship hopefuls had their hands full with problems on the track and on pit road. Kevin Harvick (15th), Matt Kenseth (18th), Greg Biffle (19th), and Tony Stewart (21st) will be glad to leave Dover in their rearview mirrors.

The same can be said for Clint Bowyer, whose race mirrored his tribulations over the last week. After winning at New Hampshire the previous Sunday, Bowyer was docked 150 points by NASCAR for a failed car inspection and dropped from second to 12th in the standings.

A mediocre qualifying effort put Bowyer's No. 33 Chevrolet in the middle of the pack for the start Sunday, then he hurt his chances early by sliding through Turn 2 and tagging the wall. A subsequent penalty for speeding on pit road dropped Bowyer farther behind, and he finished three laps down in 25th - the worst among the 12 Chase contenders.