HAMPTON, Ga. — Credit Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton for their confidence.
Although Jimmie Johnson is turning the Sprint Cup title chase into a rout, neither driver is conceding anything to the two-time defending champion.
“I promise you, it’s not over,” Biffle said.
But it sure seems that way as Johnson has steadily pulled away from the competition. He heads into today’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a 149-point lead over Biffle, while Burton is 152 points back with just four races left.
A driver can make up 161 points in a single event, assuming he leads the most laps en route to victory and Johnson finishes last.
But that’s fairly unlikely to happen to Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports crew: The No. 48 team has won 13 of the 46 Chase races since the format was introduced in 2004.
Barring a complete collapse — and Johnson and his crew are seemingly far too prepared for that to happen — he’ll have this title wrapped up well before the Nov. 16 season finale. History is on his side, too: No driver has come back from a deficit greater than 144 points with four races to go.
But the competition is refusing to concede, despite knowing it will take a perfect month of performance — and some Johnson bad luck — to make this a race.
“We’re going to have to have four flawless races,” Biffle said. “If you do the math, 149 points divided by four, that’s obviously what we need to pick up per race — it’s got to be those positions or more. But we know if he slips that we have to capitalize, and if he has a problem, we have got to finish well in that event.
“It’s certainly possible. We’re just going to do the best we can and see where he ends up at the end of the day.”
Johnson isn’t claiming the Sprint Cup just yet, either, and is keeping a close eye on the challengers. He’s most worried about Carl Edwards, a six-race winner during the “regular season” who slipped to fourth in the standings after mechanical problems in Round 5 of the Chase.
“If we have a 43rd-place finish, it would probably allow more than just Carl in, but for whatever reason, my eyes have kind of stopped there at Carl,” Johnson said. “I try to look at the worst-case scenario, and if we leave here with 43rd-place points, who has a shot and who is very good at the tracks that are coming up.”
But Johnson is the one who is good at the remaining tracks on the schedule, including Atlanta, where he has three wins and nine top-10 finishes in 14 career races. He swept the races here last season, and starts from the pole today because rain washed out qualifying and the field was set by points.
Edwards wins Nationwide race
MILLINGTON, Tenn. — Carl Edwards held off David Reutimann to win the Kroger On Track for the Cure 250, keeping alive his hopes for a second straight NASCAR Nationwide Series title.
Edwards pulled within 116 points of series leader Clint Bowyer, who finished 16th. There are three races remaining.
Footnotes.
Ryan Newman passed Ron Hornaday in Turn 2 on the last lap at Atlanta Motor Speedway to win in his first Craftsman Truck Series start.
Newman and Hornaday traded the lead twice in the final eight laps. The two raced side-by-side for a lap, with Hornaday coming out front on the next-to-last lap.
• Will Power won his third straight Indy 300 pole position, overtaking Scott Dixon with seconds left in qualifying in Surfers Paradise, Australia.
Ryan Briscoe was third, followed by Dario Franchitti, who is making his return to open-wheel racing after an aborted stint in NASCAR.
Today’s race
NASCAR SPRINT CUP
Pep Boys Auto 500
Site:Hampton, Ga.
TV: Today, ABC, noon.
Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway (quad-oval, 1.54 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns).
Race distance: 500.5 miles, 325 laps.
Last race: Jimmie Johnson won at Martinsville Speedway, padding his lead in his bid for a third straight title with four races to go. The two-time defending series champion led 339 laps as he and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates again dominated on this track. Johnson won the fall race for the third consecutive time on the smallest, trickiest circuit in the Sprint Cup Series. It was his fifth career victory on the oval and fourth in the last five races. Teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second, followed by Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon, giving Hendrick three of the top four spots.
Last year: A two-tire stop for Jimmie Johnson paid off with a victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, making the Chase a virtual dead heat at the top between the reigning champion and Gordon.
Fast facts: Johnson is one race closer to getting his third straight title; the last to win three consecutive titles was Cale Yarborough in 1976-78. Johnson leads Greg Biffle by 149 points and Jeff Burton by 152 with four races remaining.
Next race: Dickies 500, Fort Worth, Texas, Nov. 2.
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