DOVER, Del. - Everyone figured Jimmie Johnson's surge in the Chase for the Championship was inevitable. It was only a matter of when.
Johnson started his annual championship push by dominating Sunday's AAA 400 at the Dover International Speedway. And in the process, he made it clear that winning titles never gets old.
He led 271 of 400 laps and beat fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin by 100 yards. It was Johnson's 15th victory during the Chase in the last five years.
Martin has a win and a second-place finish in two playoff races, and he hasn't been able to separate himself from Johnson. Martin started the Chase with a 10-point lead and he has that same 10-point cushion going into next Sunday's race at the Kansas Speedway. He also knows he doesn't have the same pedigree during the playoffs - Martin has two career Chase victories - so it may be difficult to maintain this kind of pace.
"It's just two races," Martin said. "And I think a first and the second is a pretty good way to come out of the gate. But we've got eight more to go, and all kinds of things can happen.
"You know, I still say that there's 12 in it and 12 can win. You know, it might be a challenge for a couple of the teams that are toward the back right now. But you just don't have any concept, I guess, of how much racing eight races is. It's a lot of racing. A lot of things can happen."
Eight of the 12 drivers in the playoffs already are more than 100 points behind - and fading fast. The only other drivers within striking distance are third-place Juan Pablo Montoya (down by 65 points) and Kurt Busch (75).
Jeff Gordon, a four-time series champion, admitted the obvious, saying, "The 48 was in a league of their own."
"I certainly hope that our performance today scares some people and affects them in a way that benefits us," Johnson said. "But, you know, I see guys get so worried about what other people think, what other people say and spend a lot of time in those areas. That's not what works for me."
What does work is the meticulous preparation by crew chief Chad Knaus and everyone else on the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, especially in crunch time.
The Chase started in 2004 to pump new interest into the final 10 races during the football season. Johnson's team has found a way to elevate their game during the playoffs, winning nearly 29 percent of their starts and three consecutive championships.
"I think that a lot of people thought that Hendrick would be the team to beat and right now they certainly are," Gordon said.
Johnson learned four years ago it's better to create the challenge than to chase it. He likes being the driver everyone fears, the one everyone has to pursue.
"I tried to play some of those games in 2005 with Tony Stewart," Johnson said of trying to derail Stewart's championship. "It didn't work out for me. Since that day I realized I just need to run my race, put blinders on; don't watch television, don't watch or read any of the trade papers, magazines. Just ignore, ignore, ignore, and focus on my world and what's going on with my race car. That's what I'll do through the rest of the Chase.
"If you get off to the slow start, you have to hope the other guys have a bad luck. If you get off to a quick start, it makes your life a little easier, but it doesn't change the fact that you could have a problem later on in the Chase."
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