Jimmie Johnson one race from tying Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt with seven Cup titles

Ray Slover

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Jimmie Johnson one race from tying Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt with seven Cup titles image

Deal with it, NASCAR fans: Jimmie Johnson is one race from winning a record-tying seventh Cup championship. Whether you like it or not.

Johnson has his detractors, especially those who compare him unfavorably to Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. But that doesn't detract from this: Johnson is the most successful driver of the Chase era.

Period.

MORE: Race results | Johnson wins | Gibbs drivers ticked ... at each other

He proved it at Martinsville, where on Sunday he won for the ninth time to match pal and teammate Jeff Gordon. He did it by overcoming penalties and the expected banging and the dominance of Toyota rivals who threatened to run away with the race. And running out of gas.

"We really had great long run speed," Johnson said after the race, collecting his ninth grandfather clock and the 79th victory in NASCAR's highest level of competition.

"We lost track position through a couple of different means there at the first half of the race. Honestly, that caution with the No. 19 car put us in the catbird seat. I wasn't sure I could get by the No. 18 or the No. 11, but we got going and I got by both of those guys. I thought, 'Man, I hope this stays green,' because that really suits what our racecar was doing all day long."

The 19 was Carl Edwards; 18, Kyle Busch; 11, Denny Hamlin. Those Joe Gibbs Racing cars did their best to keep Johnson at bay. Ford driver Brad Keselowski of Team Penske had a fast car and the last chance to beat Johnson. But when white turned to checkered, first to the flag was Johnson.

To the cranky, it was time for pooh-pooh and pish posh.

Sorry.

On Lap 358, Johnson's car slowed to a stop on the backstretch. Johnson turned off the electronic control unit, let it recycle and got the car restarted. He reached pit road on Lap 366, refueled for the final run and restarted on green from the fourth.

With his Martinsville win, Johnson qualifies for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship race on Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami. A year earlier, Gordon won his ninth Martinsville race and a title shot. Both men drive for Hendrick Motorsports, which found something late in a troublesome season and got back in the championship picture.

It wasn't a perfect race. It was a perfect result because Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus and the Hendrick organization made it so. Problems?

"Yeah, there were a lot of moments but anything in life you have to work for it," Johnson said. "It's not going to come easy and we knew that coming into this race. There are so many challenges with this track. I'm so thankful for this race team."

There was no magic in this victory. Martinsville, a traffic jam with two drag strips, gave Johnson what he needed.

"It was really those long runs," Johnson said. We didn't get the black right-side rubber to lay down like I had hoped. But it was the closest we had had it for a long time. Having those long runs really suited my style and our setup of our racecar."

Johnson might win again, because he has six wins at Texas. And would that set Chase drivers and his critics afire.

At the least, Johnson can take Texas as an indication of what his car can do at Homestead. In the meantime, the plan for the No. 48 team is simple.

"Win races," Johnson said, "try to put as much pressure as we can on ourselves, because we know come Homestead that pressure is going to be pretty intense."

For Johnson, the attention now is on one number: seven.

"I've been trying to ignore this conversation about seven (championships) but now I can't," he said in victory lane at Martinsville. "We're locked in. I'm just honored to be in this position."

Whether his critics like it or not.

Ray Slover