Superspeedway thrills

There's nothing like a chess match at Talladega

Team Lowe's left Dover with mixed emotions last weekend. Anytime you can get a top 10 in Winston Cup, you know that you've done a great job. Top 10s are hard to come by, and when you take into consideration that the Lowe's 48 was only outside of the top 10 for five laps, that tells me that we had a good race car last Sunday.

On the other hand, Team Lowe's tested in Dover just the week before and we really felt like we had a strong race car and could contend for the win. In both races last year and the race earlier this year, we led laps and won two out of those three races, so we felt like we could contend again this race. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the race car where it needed to be. Jimmie was working really hard and trying different lines, but we couldn't find that groove we needed to get it done.

So, overall we're pleased with the top 10 finish and excited to gain one spot in the overall standings, but we are also looking forward to getting back to Dover next season to prove that we have what it takes to tame the one-mile monster.

Now we're on to Talladega Superspeedway, the track that Dale Earnhardt Jr. built. I think Junior has won the last four races there, so you know he's going to be hard to beat. You can also count on his teammate, Michael Waltrip, to be in the mix, along with the No. 29 of Kevin Harvick and our teammate, Jeff Gordon. Right now, those seem to be the teams that have things figured out on the superspeedways and continue to contend for the wins the past couple of season.

I still feel the key for us is seat time for Jimmie. Each time we race on the superspeedways he's impressed me with how much he's learned from the race before and how he's applying those lessons in the race. We've run really well on all of the superspeedways this season. In fact, Jimmie led the most laps at Talladega earlier this year, even though we got shuffled back and ended up 15th.

Team Lowe's needs to be good in the pits and Jimmie needs to be up on the wheel all afternoon, using the draft and placing himself in the right positions. There's nothing like the chess match of the superspeedways.

The keys to success at Talladega Superspeedway:

1. Driver -- Jimmie needs to play a chess game going 200 mph. He'll need to be sharp this Sunday.

2. Pit Stops -- Smaller fuel cells and more tire wear with new rules packages means more pit stops. The guys will need to be strong in the pits this weekend.

3. Good Fortune -- I'm not a big person on luck, but we'll need to be at the right place at the right time this weekend.

Chad Knaus is the crew chief for Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Hendrick Motorsports. His column will appear weekly on SI.com.