What we learned at Martinsville

After he had his best career race at Martinsville, expect Junior to be a player in the Chase next year. AP

Five things we learned on a cool, sunny afternoon in Martinsville, Va.:

1. Jimmie Johnson took another big step toward the title.

A few hours before the green flag fell in Martinsville, I spoke to about a dozen crew guys in the garage and asked them who they thought was the driver to beat. All of them uttered the same name: Jimmie Johnson. He had won three of the last four races at the shortest track in NASCAR and it was taken as article of faith in the garage that he'd reach Victory Lane again.

Well, he did. No one could had the car to catch Johnson as he blazed to his sixth win of the season. More importantly, his lead over Greg Biffle ballooned from 69 points to 145. With four races left in the season, it's very, very hard to envision Johnson not winning the championship. He has a history of success at all of the remaining tracks and he'd probably have to suffer two finishes of 20th or worse for anyone to catch him. Considering that Johnson has come in 10th or better in 20 of his last 22 Chase races, it's very, very unlikely that this will happen.

So enjoy watching history as Johnson cruises to the championship over the next month, race fans. He'll become only the second driver in the Cup series to win three titles in a row, joining Cale Yarborough, who pulled off the feat 30 years ago.

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be a player in the championship hunt ... next year.

Little E had the best run of his career on Sunday at Martinsville, finishing second. But what I found telling was how he drove the race. Instead of mashing the gas and gunning for the front, which had been his usual approach at this track, he patiently rode around near the middle of the top 10 and simply tried to conserve his brakes and avoid trouble. Then, late in the event, he put the hammer down and cruised up through the field. He didn't have the power under the hood to catch Johnson, but he showed a sense of patience that Earnhardt has lacked for much of his career.

But this isn't the only reason why I think Earnhardt will be a legit title contender next season. This year, his first at Hendrick Motorsports, has been a chance for Earnhardt and his crew chief Tony Eury Jr. to learn the Hendrick Way -- how the teams in the organization work, how they acquire information, how they share it, how they test, how they apply that testing information to the cars, etc ... So this has been a season of acclimation for Earnhardt and Eury. Next year will be a different story for E & E; they'll have the best opportunity of their careers to win their first Cup championship.

3. Carl Edwards is poised to go on a winning streak -- though it'll be too little, too late.

After finishing third at Martinsville, Edwards strode into the infield media center looking like he'd just taken a swig of spoiled milk. Yet when he was asked if the championship battle was over, Edwards was adamant that it wasn't. In fact, he said all the right things: that he's confident he can win the next four races, that he's done worrying about the points standings and that he's going to race hard until the last lap at Homestead. But Edwards is now 198 points behind Johnson and no driver in the history of the Chase has made up that big of a deficit with four races to go.

That being said, Edwards could very well win three of the next four races. He's been the driver to beat all season long on intermediate tracks, so he should have a car capable of winning at the three intermediates left on the schedule: Atlanta, Texas, and Homestead. Edwards came in second in the points back in 2005; he could very well finish in the same position this season.

4. Jeff Burton lost valuable ground.

A week after winning at Charlotte, Burton had plenty of momentum heading into Martinsville. And for much of the race, he cruised around the track in the top-five and it looked like he was going to have a solid points day. But late in the race, because of congestion on pit road, he overshot his pit box on a pit stop. His team then worked on his car while the vehicle wasn't completely inside the pit box. This was a clear violation of the rules, and NASCAR correctly slapped Burton with a lap penalty. This stroke of bad luck caused Burton to drop in the field and finish a disappointing 17th. Worse, he fell from second to third in the standings and is now 152 points behind Johnson.

Burton was never going to outrace Johnson to the title, but he could have snuck up on Johnson if the No. 48 team encountered problems. After Martinsville, though, Burton won't win the championship even if Johnson unexpectedly stumbles over these next four weeks.

5. Tony Stewart is quietly building a power at Stewart Haas Racing.

To find out how, check out my piece in the magazine this week.