Johnson making earlier-than-usual move for title, plus more notes

Jimmie Johnson is vying to become the first driver to win four consecutive NASCAR season titles. AP

He may not be the points leader, but after wasting the competition in Sunday's race at Dover, Jimmie Johnson may be ready to say "Game Over" in this year's Chase for the Championship.

Johnson's victory leaves him just 10 points behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin, who finished second in the grueling 400-lap contest on the concrete at Dover. But as the series heads to next Sunday's 400-mile battle at Kansas Speedway, Johnson is that race's defending champion and may be ready to take firm control of the points race as he attempts to make NASCAR history.

If Johnson wins the championship this season, he would be the first driver ever to win four straight NASCAR Cup titles. In each of his three previous championship seasons, Johnson took control earlier and earlier. Lurking just 10 points out of the lead after the second race, Johnson may be ready to dictate the agenda for the remaining eight races.

Just take a look at the tracks left on the schedule and how Johnson has performed:

• He started on the pole and led 124 laps to win at Kansas last year. It was his first win at the 1.5-mile track, where Johnson has two top-five and five top-10 finishes in seven previous starts.

• Johnson has three wins at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., but this track is new to the Chase schedule this year after swapping dates with Atlanta, then moving to an early October date that was previously held by Talladega. Johnson has won this race the past two years. His other win came the first time he raced at Fontana, in 2002. Those three wins are part of his eight top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 13 starts at this track.

• Johnson has a stunning five wins at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte but hasn't won there since October 2005. That was the end of his four-race winning streak at the 1.5-mile track located in the heart of NASCAR country. He drove to victory in the 2003 Coca-Cola 600 then started his streak with wins in May 2004 continuing to October 2005. Those five victories are part of his eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in 16 starts at Lowe's.

• Johnson has a whopping six victories at Martinsville Speedway, including the past two races at the Virginia short track. He had a three-race winning streak at Martinsville from October 2006 to October 2007. He also won the fall race in 2004 but that contest is forever tarnished as the day 10 members of the Hendrick family and race team were killed in a private plane crash as they were heading to that race. Johnson's six wins are part of his 11 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes in 15 Martinsville starts.

• Johnson only has one win at Talladega Superspeedway. In fact, this is his weakest of the remaining eight tracks in The Chase. His lone victory came in May 2006. He has four top-five and six top-10 finishes in 15 Talladega starts. This could be the one track where his competition can gain an advantage on the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet.

• He has one win, six top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 12 starts at Texas Motor Speedway. His victory in the 2007 November race allowed him to pull away from teammate Jeff Gordon in that year's Chase.

• Johnson is a three-time winner at Phoenix and has won the Chase race the past two years. His three victories all came in a row, and he finished fourth at PIR in April. Those three wins are part of his seven top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 12 Phoenix starts.

• Homestead is the only track where Johnson has never won, but the past three years he hasn't needed to win the race to win The Chase. Johnson has gone into conservation mode the past three years with finishes of ninth, seventh and 15th -- all good enough to clinch the title. He has two top-five and five top-10 finishes in eight Homestead starts.

OK, get the point?

Past history is in Johnson's favor, and with some of his best tracks coming up, he could be well on his way to a fourth-straight Sprint Cup title.

"I certainly hope that our performance today scares some people and affects them in a way that benefits us," Johnson said. "But 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.

"I tried to play some of those games in 2005 with Tony Stewart. 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."

Of course, his fellow Chase competitors aren't going to give up. There is still the sentimental favorite in Martin, who is attempting to win his first Cup title at 50 years old. As points leader, he's expected to put up quite a fight.

"It's just two races," Martin said after finishing second. "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.

"I still say that there's 12 in it, and 12 can win. 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 of how much racing eight races is. It's a lot of racing. A lot of things can happen."