DOVER, Del. - Chad Knaus slung the champagne bottle over hisshoulder the way a businessman would carry his jacket after a longday of work. The casual approach seemed fitting for Jimmie Johnson'screw chief. Winning a Chase race and celebrating in Victory Lanereally has become just another day in the office for every member ofthe No. 48 team.
Johnson's win at Dover International Speedway made HendrickMotorsports 2 for 2 in Chase for the championship races. Mark Martinkicked off the 10-race run with a win and helped make Hendrick 1-2in the championship points standings.
Lurking behind them in eighth place is teammate Jeff Gordon, atwo-time winner of this week's race at Kansas Speedway.
That the Hendrick drivers - except for non-Chase driver DaleEarnhardt Jr. - would be in the hunt for the Sprint Cup title isabout as surprising as another baseball postseason with the Red Sox,Yankees, Angels and Phillies. Johnson and Gordon have sevenchampionships, and the 50-year-old Martin is in prime position toshed the "best driver to never win it all" label that has beenattached to him for years. Holding the points lead, this might behis year.
Nine other drivers want to make the Hendrick boys work for achampionship. But it could be too late to end team owner RickHendrick's three-year run of championships.
Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne, 10th-12th in theChase standings, need top-five runs and an immediate string of badluck for the drivers up front to have any realistic shot atcontention.
"Everybody is going to have a 15th-or-worse-place finishsomewhere along the way," Gordon said. "It could possibly be worsethan that when you get to Talladega and Martinsville, those placeswhere the unknown is there."
Johnson finished 15th in two Chase races last season en route tothis record-tying third straight Cup championship. He won threetimes, including Kansas, and finished in the top 10 the other fivetimes. Do that again, and it might be impossible for any driver tocatch Johnson. He's off to a fast start in this year's Chase,finishing fourth and first.
"If you get off to a quick start, it makes your life a littleeasier," Johnson said. "It doesn't change the fact that you couldhave a problem later on in the Chase. It's 10 races and they all theplay the same."
Johnson also has a record 15 Chase victories since the format'sinception in 2004. There's a reason Johnson seemingly gets better asthe season moves along. Yes, a Hendrick team will almost assuredlyhave the top engines, car and personnel in the sport, but it's acommitment to winning on and off the track, every week, that hasthem driven to win.
"I think as the season progresses, we get smarter," Knaus said."Not that everybody else doesn't. But really as a group, we worktogether and try to get our drivers on the same page, try to get ourcrew chiefs and teams on the same page."
That all-for-one approach in which all four Hendrick teams shareinformation has surprised a veteran like Martin. On the brink ofwalking away from NASCAR a handful of times this decade, Martin hasenjoyed a career renaissance at Hendrick. He leads the series withfive wins, winning the Chase race at New Hampshire, and enjoys a 10-point lead over Johnson in the standings.
"We race each other hard on the racetrack, but off the racetrack,we all work for the same goal," Martin said.
If any of the three Hendrick drivers are vulnerable over thefinal eight races, it might be Martin. He's had three finishes thisseason of 40 or worse and four others in the 30s. Neither Johnsonnor Gordon have had a 40th-place finish this season. Most of thepoor finishes haven't been Martin's fault - he got caught up in theBig One at Talladega for example - but the fact is he's had badresults. Get wrecked at unforgiving Talladega again in November andthis sentimental title run could hit a massive stumbling block.
Gordon has the most work ahead to get in the thick of Chasecontention. He's 122 points behind Martin and has to pass sevenother drivers before he can park in first place. He does have fourtitles, but has yet to win one in the Chase format. Gordon talked atDover about how the 10-race format doesn't necessarily fit his styleand wouldn't complain if the old system came back. Of course itwon't, and Gordon realizes that. He also knows he can find a way tomake it work.
"You can have a great year, you can win as many races as youwant, but you've got to have everything going your way in thosefinal 10," Gordon said. "I still think it comes down to the bestteam, overall team, that's going to win the championship."
Wins help in the Chase, and those trips to Victory Lane havedried up for Gordon. He has just one this year and was winless lastseason. He was seventh in the final standings last year and runner-up in 2007 - the closest he's come to that fifth championship since2001.
Gordon wants to keep that championship at Hendrick, and he wantsto be the driver to bring it home.
"There's going to be times where your teammates are going to outrun you, they are going to do a better job of all of the details andyou have to give them credit when they do it," he said.
"But it makes you work that much harder to get those details puttogether for the next race so that you can go out and accomplish thesame thing."
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