NASCAR's Joey Logano Ready for Cup Debut

Nerves have never been a problem for Joey Logano - at least not on the racetrack.

The 18-year-old driver has been racing against older and more experienced competitors since he was a toddler.

"I guess the only time I can remember ever being nervous in a car was when I took my driving test,'' Logano said. "That's because it would have been real embarrassing to fail it.''

He got his driver's license just fine. And when it comes to race cars, Logano hasn't known much failure. He has steadily climbed the racing ladder in since father Tom Logano first buckled him into a go-kart at age 4.

But if ever there was a reason for the younger Logano to have another case of nerves, it is this week as he prepares for his first NASCAR Sprint Cup start at Richmond International Raceway. To make the field, he'll have to qualify, since his No. 02 Joe Gibbs Racing entry is not among the top 35 in car owner points. And if it rains, a real possibility as forecasters watch Tropical Storm Hannah, Logano also won't make the race.

Having to qualify doesn't seem to bother Logano, and neither does having to live up to the hype that has surrounded his phenomenal rise - including being named to replace two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart in the No. 20 JGR Toyota next season.

"I think I'd feel weird without the pressure because I've kind of gotten used to it,'' Logano said after being anointed as Stewart's successor. "And if I didn't have the pressure, I'd think something would be wrong. I'm 100 percent cool with it.

"I go out there expecting to win. I go out there expecting my team to expect to win. I think that's what everyone is here for and that is what I want my team to be here for.''

So far, so good.

Despite signing with Gibbs at 15 and quickly showing the kind of promise that might have gotten him there earlier, Logano had to abide by a NASCAR rule and wait until his 18th birthday in May to make his debut in the second-tier Nationwide Series.

He had a sixth-place finish at Dover in his first start, won the pole in Nashville in his second race, then won from the pole at Kentucky. In his first 11 Nationwide starts, Logano has chalked up three top-fives and eight top-10s. Not bad for someone who is still three years away from being able to legally sip champagne in Victory Circle.

Even with all that obvious ability on display, Gibbs had intended to give Logano the rest of this season and 2009 to gain experience in Nationwide, continue as a test driver of JGR's Cup car and get comfortable with his surroundings. But Stewart's unexpected decision to leave his home of 10 years to drive for his own team upset those plans.

"I asked Joey, 'Do you think it's too quick? Would you rather spend more time?''' Gibbs said. "Joey said, 'To be quite truthful, every minute you (give) me in the car, I think I would be gaining experience. I don't think I would benefit from having somebody else coaching me up or splitting races.'''

The youngster will run seven of the last 11 Cup races this season - two in a fourth Gibbs entry and five more with Hall of Fame Racing, which gets its engines and cars from Gibbs.

Kyle Busch, who came to the team this year after an apprenticeship at Hendrick Motorsports, knows exactly what Logano is up against. Busch, now one of the biggest stars in Cup at the age of 23, was also considered a phenom when he ran his first truck race at 16 and made his Cup debut for the team at 19.

But his buildup was nothing like what has surrounded Logano's rise.

"For all of the pressure that people wanted to put on him for his Nationwide debut, he did real well with it,'' Busch said last week before the Cup race at Fontana, Calif. "And all of the pressure that everybody wants to put on him for his getting into a Cup ride, he'll have to do a good job with that, too.''

Busch said Logano's biggest hurdles will probably be what he has to face off the track.

"I think it's just probably the amount of exposure, with the amount of media, with the amount of sponsor appearances, with the amount of all that stuff,'' he said. "Hopefully, Joe Gibbs Racing will take it easy on him a little bit at least, and (sponsor) Home Depot won't wear him out too quick.''

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is impressed by what he has seen from Logano, especially when he reflects on what he was like as a teenager.

"It's exciting to see these young guys come in,'' Junior said. "So much talent at such a young age. I remember how I was at 18. I didn't have the mentality and the (maturity) to handle all the things that they'll face in the garage, in and outside the car. I think that's really where the owners and the mentors can be most careful is how this guy is affected by the attention outside the car and what kind of driver ... that makes him.''

Meanwhile, Logano is just trying to enjoy driving the race cars and ignore the fuss that is building outside of the cockpit.

"I started (racing) when I was 5 or 6 years old,'' he said. "Back then, people didn't start racing until they were 16. I'm 18 and I've been racing for 12 years, now. I feel that's where it's different ... I feel I'm ready.''

Ragan and Kahne Race for the Chase

Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer are in. David Ragan and Kasey Kahne want to knock them out.

There's just one race remaining to determine the 12 drivers who will advance into the Chase and compete for the Sprint Cup title, and this year there's actually a bit of intrigue.

Bowyer is officially on the bubble, holding down the 12th and final qualifying spot and needing a solid run at Richmond International Raceway to lock up his berth. It doesn't hurt that he's returning to the site of his only victory this season.

Of course, some will say he backed into that May victory. Remember, Hamlin dominated the race before a tire problem turned it over to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch. Those two wrecked out of the lead late, and Bowyer slid past to steal the win.

Still, he was in position to do so and running near the front might be all it takes for him to make the Chase. He's got a 17-point lead over Ragan and is up 48 over Kahne, the only two drivers with a realistic chance of racing their way in.

"It's crunch time,'' said Bowyer, who can clinch a spot by either winning at Richmond, or finishing second or third and leading the most laps.

"If there's anything that gives you a good feeling, it's knowing we won there in the spring, and it's a track I typically run good at,'' he added. "But Richmond is a track where anything can happen, too.''

Hamlin knows that all too well.

Richmond is his home track and he desperately wants to win there. The checkered flag was certainly in his sight in May, when he started from the pole and ran away from the field to lead 381 of the 400 laps. That late tire problem cost him the win and he wound up a heartbreaking 24th.

Although he's holding down the 11th spot in the standings, another disaster could cost him his Chase spot. He has a bit of cushion, though, and can clinch his berth by finishing 21st, 22nd and leading one lap, or 25th and leading the most laps.

Then there's Ragan and Kahne, two surprises for very different reasons.

Ragan is in just his second full season of Cup, but struggled through his rookie year and earlier debuts when on-track inexperience angered several veterans. But he's matured tremendously, and has had a quiet but consistent second season that gives him a legitimate chance to race his way into the Chase.

With Bowyer in striking distance, Ragan knows he controls his own fate.

"The bottom line is we've got to go out and beat these guys, no other way around it,'' Ragan said.

Indeed, if Ragan wins the race and leads the most laps, he's in. But that's no easy feat: Ragan is winless in all three of NASCAR's top series.

And he's not exactly been running out front all season. Through the first 25 races, Ragan has only led 15 laps while notching nine top-10 finishes.

He understands that making the Chase is a tremendous achievement, but his Roush Fenway Racing team is a long way from actually contending for the title.

"I think we are a Chase team ... but we are not quite a championship team yet,'' he said. "You can't contend for the championship without winning some races. Winning a race is a must.''

There's also the question of whether Ragan can handle the pressure of one race that ultimately determines how successful a season you have. Since the 2004 addition of the Chase, making it has been the benchmark for judging a year.

"I don't think I've ever been in a situation to be in such a highly watched, one-race kind of year, that you're make or break,'' Ragan said. "I probably don't realize how big this race is. Maybe after the year is over, I will have time to sit back and think about it.

"But I'm trying not to go about it like that. We're tense, and we're thinking about it. But we've just got to run our race.''

Kahne is surprisingly sitting back in 14th spot in the standings despite two wins and a hot streak in the early part of summer that briefly made him a serious title contender.

He's slipped since late June, finishing 33rd and 30th in Sonoma and New Hampshire, and cemented his bubble status with consecutive 40th-place finishes at Michigan and Bristol last month.

"I went into Michigan kind of thinking we had been running really strong, we had been right there every weekend, and maybe we had a shot at being sixth in points,'' Kahne said. "Then 'just racing' happens. We're 14th looking in now. It's going to be close to see if we can even get in the deal now.''

Kahne has been in the Chase before, in 2006 when he finished eighth in the final standings.

But he's also missed it - in 2004 - with a poor run at Richmond when he entered the event mathematically eligible to make it.

It will take work to get in this year. Kahne needs to finish the race with 48 points more than Bowyer and 31 points ahead of Ragan to clinch a spot.

"We've been put in a position where all we can do is do our best and hope it works out for us,'' Kahne said. "If we run our race, it doesn't necessarily mean we are going to make it into the Chase.''

The race is scheduled for Saturday night, but many expect the event to be delayed by Tropical Storm Hanna.

NASCAR can probably wait as late as Wednesday to run the event, and Richmond president Doug Fritz said he's keeping a close eye on the storm. NASCAR's top series does not race in the rain, and Fritz said he'd keep fans updated with twice daily postings on the track's official Web site.

"We are working closely ... to monitor the path and potential impact of the storm,'' Fritz said. "As always, the safety of our fans, competitors and the local community is of the utmost importance.''

Franchitti Headed Back to IndyCar Series

Dario Franchitti will return to IndyCar in 2009 as the replacement driver for Dan Wheldon at Chip Ganassi Racing.

Franchitti, the 2007 IndyCar Series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner, left open wheel at the end of last season to move into NASCAR driving for Ganassi. But his Sprint Cup team never found sponsorship, and Ganassi shut down the No. 40 car in July.

Franchitti has been lingering in NASCAR since, and Ganassi has entered him in a handful of second-tier Nationwide Series races. He had said at the time his team closed that returning to IndyCar was not an option, but apparently changed his mind when Ganassi decided not to re-sign Wheldon.

Jimmie Johnson Wins Pepsi 500

As competitive as NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series is these days, it’s not often a driver overpowers the field the way Jimmie Johnson did Sunday night.

It even surprised the two-time reigning series champion.

“It was an awesome race car all night long,” Johnson said after leading 228 of the 250 laps in the Pepsi 500. “We really didn’t touch much all night long and the car was fast and good. And the track just came to us.

“More than anything, I’m just happy to close the deal. It’s very, very rare to have a car that dominant and it’s easy to do something stupid to spoil that,” he added. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in that position and, to work on your mental toughness in those situations, it’s really important.”

Asked if he has had a car this superior before, Johnson said, “I think this is the most dominant car and victory we’ve had, but I can remember one other time, and I blew the opportunity. My rookie year at Lowe’s (Motor Speedway), I think we led 580 miles of that (600-mile) race and I slid through the pits and lost us the race.”

Runner-up Greg Biffle also had a fast car, but barely kept in touch with Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet on the 2-mile oval, finishing 2.076 seconds behind the winner.

“The 48 was phenomenal,” Biffle said. “We see that happen every once in a while a guy gets it set up right, gets the car running good.”

Johnson won the race at the former California Speedway for the second straight year and again gave notice to points leader Kyle Busch and series runner-up Carl Edwards — the two hottest drivers in the series coming into this race — that he remains a serious contender for a third straight title.

“I hope so,” Johnson said. “I’m just not sure how it’s going to shake out. The weak spot for us has been the mile and a half and two-mile tracks and the Chase is loaded with those.

“We’ve been getting better each week. I’m happy to be on a big track and win on a big track. I really think we’re doing the right things to have a fighting chance at the championship and that’s all we can ask for.”

In February, Johnson led the most laps here but lost the race when Edwards passed him with 23 laps to go. This time, nobody could touch Johnson, whose car was a rocketship from the start.

Time after time he built leads of between 5 and 12 seconds, only to see them erased by yellow flags. But it didn’t faze Johnson, who just rebuilt the margin after the next restart.

On a pit stop on lap 162, during a caution period, Johnson took four tires and found himself in sixth on the restart, trailing five drivers who had each taken two tires on the stop.

After the restart on lap 166, Johnson was fourth after one lap, second after two trips around the 2-mile oval and back in the lead on lap 168.

On the next pit stop, on lap 182 during another caution, Johnson’s jackman got tangled up in the air hose, costing the team valuable seconds. Johnson again came out of the pits in sixth. And, again, he rocketed back into the lead in just three laps after the green flag waved.

On lap 192, during yet another caution, Biffle’s crew pulled off a lightning stop that got the No. 16 Ford out just ahead of Johnson’s Chevy. But it took Johnson less than half a lap to zoom back into the lead this time.

And that was the race as Johnson pulled away over the last 28 laps to get his 36th career win.

“This is the same car we won with at Indianapolis (in July), and I’m real proud of that,” said Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief.

“The car was really good, especially the first 15 or 20 laps,” Johnson said. “When you have a car like that, it doesn’t really matter where you are on the track.”

Biffle just shook his head when asked how good Johnson was.

“He would get better as the run went anyway. But he had more grip up off the corners,” Biffle said. “The 48 was a better car tonight. If it’s not 18 (Busch) beating us, it’s the 48.”

For a change, neither Edwards, who had won two straight races and three of the last four, or Busch, the series leader with eight wins in 2008, were in contention.

Denny Hamlin finished third, followed by Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Edwards, Busch and Kasey Kahne.

Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 11th, and Jeff Burton, who was 17th, clinched spots in the 12-man Chase for the championship that will begin after next Saturday night’s race at Richmond. They joined Busch and Edwards who had previously locked up spots in the postseason.

But the drivers vying for the final positions in the Chase remained in a close battle, with Kenseth moving past 15th-place Jeff Gordon into ninth in the points, and Hamlin and 10th-place Clint Bowyer remaining 11th and 12th in the standings. David Ragan, who finished 13th Sunday remained 13th, 17 points behind Bowyer, while Kahne stayed in 14th, 44 points out of the Chase lineup.

Justin Wilson Wins Indy Grand Prix

Rookie Justin Wilson raced to his first IndyCar Series victory Sunday, edging Helio Castroneves in the Detroit Indy Grand Prix.

Castroneves led for the majority of the road race on the Belle Isle course, but was penalized for blocking Wilson and was forced by rule to relinquish the lead with fewer than 20 laps to go.

Series points leader Scott Dixon finished fifth. That result, coupled with Castroneves' strong showing, means the IndyCar championship will be decided at next weekend's final points race at the Chicagoland track.

The odds of winning the series title still favor Dixon, who entered the Detroit race 43 points ahead of Castroneves. Dixon needs to finish eighth or better next week to win his second title and first since his rookie year of 2003.

Wilson, an Englishman who started in the race's fourth position and drives the No. 02 car for actor Paul Newman and his Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing team, had six top-10 finishes entering Sunday's race, including a season-best third-place run at Edmonton.

Castroneves dominated much of race and looked as if he was headed to a second straight victory, but IndyCar officials ordered Wilson's car to the lead after it was determined the flamboyant Brazilian was blocking on the 72nd lap.

Castroneves and his Team Penske crew were less than pleased with the ruling that sent him into second place.

"We did what we did because it was a pretty easy call,'' said Brian Barnhart, IndyCar Series president of competition and operations. "He had a tremendous run out of Turn 12, and Helio crossed over almost the entire width of the track to impede the progress of the car behind him.''

The scheduled 90-lap race ended after 87 laps when the race hit the 2-hour time limit.

Tony Kanaan, last year's winner at Detroit, finished third. Oriol Servia was fourth.

Dixon, the fastest qualifier, and second place-starter Castroneves remained in first and second place for the first 18 laps, then Dixon pitted on No. 19, allowing Castroneves to take the lead position.

Dixon never regained the lead, while Castroneves looked strong throughout.

Two laps earlier, Dan Wheldon - who entered the race with the third spot in the overall series - made contact with rookie driver Jaime Camara. Wheldon spun into a tire barrier, but was able to restart.

Wheldon also had trouble on the 65th lap when his car locked and he slowly ran into the tire barrier. He finished 20th.

Castroneves didn't initially pit until lap No. 32, but only briefly and didn't lose the top spot.

Danica Patrick and Vitor Meira slapped tires a third of the way through the race, forcing Patrick's car to stall and Meira's No. 4 to head off the course. Meira, who started the race in 14th place, had to do the equivalent of a three-point turn before heading to pit road.

Patrick ended up in 16th place after starting in the 10th spot.

Kyle Busch Wins Nationwide Series

It's Kyle Busch - again.

The 23-year-old NASCAR star was dominant on the 2-mile oval at Auto Club Speedway Saturday night, leading 144 of the 150 laps to race off with his seventh Nationwide Series victory of the season.

Busch easily held off Sprint Cup rival Carl Edwards on a pair of late-race restarts, piling up his record 18th NASCAR victory of the season, including eight in the Cup and three in the Craftsman Truck Series.

This one was one of the easiest of the season as Busch gave Joe Gibbs Racing its 15th Nationwide win of the year, including a victory in the February race here by teammate Tony Stewart, who led 136 of 150 laps. It was also the first win for the Gibbs Nationwide team since it was hit with seven suspensions, big fines and the loss of championship points for cheating on a chassis dyno engines test following the Nationwide race at Michigan.

"These guys got a bad rap a few weeks ago for what happened, but they don't deserve it,'' said Busch, who started from the pole. "This one means a lot. These guys have had a lot of adversity on them the past few weeks.''

Busch said his No. 18 Toyota was "flawless, really amazing.

"I think the biggest challenge was just being good on the restarts and getting away,'' he added. "It just fun to run like this.''

Edwards, the defending Nationwide champion who is locked in a three-way points battle this season with leader Clint Bowyer and Brad Keselowski, finished second, followed by Brian Vickers, Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray, rookie Joey Logano and Bowyer.

Keselowski had a long stop for repairs after his engine quit and wound up 33rd. That left him in second, 204 points behind Bowyer and 18 ahead of Edwards.

"It was a great points night for us,'' Edwards said. "Nobody was going to touch that (No.) 18. Those guys were scary fast. It was a lot of fun, but he was in a different zip code.''

Busch and Edwards are 1-2 in the Cup points and have been the two hottest drivers in NASCAR's top series over the last few weeks, with Edwards winning three of the last four races and Busch finishing second to Edwards the last two weeks after winning the previous race.

Edwards bumped a dominating Busch out of the lead 30 laps from the end last week in the Cup race at Bristol, and the two then bumped each other on pit road, with NASCAR later putting both on probation for six races for the postrace incident.

Edwards gave Busch's car a small bump on the rear as they drove slowly to pit road after the race.

"Oh yeah,'' Edwards said. "I was just messing around with him. I couldn't get to him to hit him all day. Even if I wanted to wreck him, I couldn't because he was so fast. "He can have tonight,'' Edwards added. "Tomorrow will be ours. We've won two in a row and I believe our car will be real good.''

Busch made his last pit stop under the green flag on lap 125. He came out of the pits behind the cars of Bowyer and Kelly Bires, who had not yet made their final stop. He was back in the lead three laps later and stayed there the rest of the way.

A crash by Chase Miller on lap 132 wiped out Busch's 2.2-second lead and gave Edwards a shot at the leader on the restart on lap 136. But the Toyota easily pulled away from Edward's Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

Debris brought out another caution on lap 139, this time erasing Busch's 1.2-second margin. But, again, he pulled away steadily after the green flag waved for the final time on lap 143 and was a solid 2 seconds ahead before the race ended under caution after a crash by Josh Wise on the final lap.

Darlington Festival on Former Southern 500 Weekend

Like most NASCAR fans, Darrell Waltrip thought Darlington Raceway's goose was cooked.

The former champion and current TV broadcaster saw the expansive new tracks on the circuit with their spacious parking, gleaming seats and fan-friendly touches. Darlington, meanwhile, looked about the same as when Waltrip first raced it three decades earlier. So when NASCAR put the country track on its endangered list a few seasons back, Waltrip figured it wouldn't be long before Darlington became extinct like iconic Southern racing layouts before it in Rockingham, N.C., and North Wilkesboro, N.C.

"There had not been a lot of growing'' at Darlington, Waltrip said earlier this month. "That worried me.''

But five years later, the longtime home of the Southern 500 has become the track "Too Tough To Kill.''

This week, Waltrip takes part in what track leaders hope becomes another enduring tradition when Darlington hosts its first historic racing festival. Raceway president Chris Browning says the two-day event could draw as many as 20,000 people on a holiday weekend long connected to stock car racing at Darlington.

"You can hear the enthusiasm when they tell you, 'Yeah, I'm coming''' to the festival, Browning says.

It's part of Browning's strategy to keep Darlington relevant and thriving despite the loss of half of its old economic clout.

Back when Browning arrived at Darlington in 2004, his fight was to keep any Sprint Cup races at "The Lady in Black.'' Prospects seemed dim.

In 2003, Darlington saw a 53-year tradition of hosting NASCAR on Labor Day weekend come to end, the race date shipped to California Speedway for 2004. Soon after, Darlington's Sprint Cup schedule was cut in half after it had hosted two races each year from 1960-2004. And for Darlington's lone remaining date? Mother's Day weekend, which had been kept off NASCAR for nearly two decades.

But Browning and his staff kept pushing. The track added lights to accommodate Saturday night racing. It added a 6,300-seat Brasington Tower in turn one and upgraded several other fan areas. The result has been four straight sellouts on a weekend previously considered unpromotable.

Browning had kicked around ideas the past couple of years about expanding Darlington's footprint and settled on the festival. He says other such gatherings center on road racing. No other track has done a racing festival that concentrates on oval track, NASCAR-style racing to this extent.

"It makes perfect sense when you think about who we are,'' Browning says. "It's a perfect fit.''

For those attending, it's similar to a living history lesson. Greats like Waltrip, "Silver Fox'' David Pearson, Ned Jarrett and Bobby Allison will take fan questions and sign autographs.

There will be five classes of autos entered: Stock cars, Indy roadsters, modifieds, sprint cars and midgets. Each group will get track time twice a day for the two days on the 1.366-mile layout created by Harold Brasington in the late 1940s.

"It's really a historical landmark,'' Waltrip says.

Besides reuniting driving greats with one of NASCAR's founding tracks, a successful festival could add to Darlington's bottom line.

The track's last economic study in 2000 estimated an impact of $60 million a year on the region and state, Darlington spokesman Jake Harris said. An analysis of sales tax receipts done by The (Florence) Morning News after Darlington's first two Mother's Day weekend races showed increases of 21 percent or better from 2004 to 2005 in Florence and Darlington counties.

Browning doesn't expect the festival crowd to make up for meals that would have been eaten, hotel rooms that would have been rented and souvenirs that would have been bought if NASCAR still ran here on Labor Day. Still, "I think this is very vital,'' he says. "We can't really sit here and be comfortable with hosting one event a year.''

Gradually, Darlington has melded its history and its future. Last year, the track repaved its surface and constructed a new tunnel to the infield with $10 million from owner International Speedway Corp. Earlier this month, the track announced the return of its Southern 500 race name for next May's Sprint Cup event.

The festival, Waltrip says, showcases Darlington's history.

Waltrip won five times at Darlington, including the last of his 84 Sprint Cup victories in the 1992 Southern 500. He's looking forward to swapping stories with some of his old rivals this week and at festivals to come.

He's not so worried about Darlington's NASCAR future anymore. "I think everybody's come to the conclusion that it's found its little niche,'' Waltrip says.

Johnson Eager to get Chase Started

If only most NASCAR drivers had Jimmie Johnson's problems.

From the outside, the two-time defending NASCAR Sprint Series champion appears to be in the middle of another spectacular season. He heads to this week's race in California fourth in season points, has wins at Indianapolis and Phoenix, and will clinch a spot in the playoffs if he manages to keep his No. 48 out of trouble on Sunday.

Yet to hear the perfectionist in Johnson talk, 2008 has been a frustrating mix of hit-and-miss efforts. While he remains in position to become the second driver in series history to win three straight points titles, Johnson admits his Hendrick Motorsports team is still trying to figure out the Car of Tomorrow.

"Some weekends I feel like we have a dominant car and other weekends I feel like we're a fifth-place car or even a 10th-place car,'' Johnson said. "With the strong team we have, we seem to be able to rally back and get finishes out of it. So I still think that we are maybe behind.''

While Johnson and superstar teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are all likely to make the Chase for the championship, all three have spent most of the season chasing series leader Kyle Busch and red-hot Carl Edwards.

"In different weeks, the 88 car (Earnhardt) has been the car, the 24 (Gordon) was the car early, we were, and it's just tough to really say where we're at,'' Johnson said.

Blame it on the bulky and balky COT, which remains a puzzle to Johnson's team, particularly crew chief Chad Knaus. Considered one of the top minds in the series, Knaus has been hamstrung by the new car.

"It's been tough for him, and it's been a huge, huge challenge for him,'' Johnson said. "But more importantly the go-to moves that we've always had with the old car do not work with the COT. And to kind of retrain (Chad's) brain and look at things in a different way, that is the hardest part for him.''

The problems with the new car surfaced almost immediately. Johnson's team arrived in Las Vegas in March thinking it had a decent setup. He ended up 29th.

"The latest, greatest moves and the stuff we thought was going to work based on the old car, and we were not even in the same race,'' he said. "We were out there (in a) seven-cylinder class it seemed like. That has been the hardest part to find out where to work and that's what we've done all season long.''

Even when he hasn't had the best car, Johnson has usually found a way to be competitive. Sometimes it's on pit strategy. Sometimes it's on luck. Sometimes it's on the experience garnered from having one of the series' top driver-crew chief combinations.

That doesn't mean it's been fun. Funny how much easier racing is when you have the fastest car on the track. It's happened a few times this year - at Indianapolis in particular - but the recipe for consistency remains a mystery.

"There is not anyone smarter than Chad, but the way he has thought about setting these cars up and what we have done in the past doesn't work with this new car,'' he said. "We are trying to find the right direction in the right areas to turn him loose and let him work.''

Though Johnson thinks his team is "close'' to getting it right, he knows there isn't some magic button Knaus will find that will put Johnson back at the front of the pack.

"There are not any big areas anymore,'' he said. "It's a lot of small areas and we are now, I feel, getting the rhythm of this car and understanding what to work on.''

A little rhythm could go a long way toward Johnson making inroads on Busch and Edwards, who have combined for more than half of the Sprint Cup wins this year.

Busch and Edwards are also developing a little rivalry, particularly after both were put on probation for six races for bumping on the cooldown lap after Saturday's race at Bristol. Edwards had won by nudging Busch out of the way with 30 laps to go.

Johnson called the pass "just good racing'' and doesn't think either driver will let the rivalry take his focus off the championship. If anything, it's just another reason to stoke the competitive fire.

"As the Chase gets closer, everybody that has a shot at this thing is going to find ways to motivate themselves and areas they can potentially play mind games in, or be out on the track and try to intimidate someone,'' he said. "That stuff is just part of any championship battle.''

It's a battle Johnson has won the last two years. Making it three straight will be difficult, but with a Chase schedule littered with tracks he's done well at, Johnson remains optimistic he could make history.

"I feel like we are one of the guys to be considered a favorite in the championship and look forward to getting started,'' he said.