Can anyone stop Jimmie Johnson?
FONTANA, Calif. -- It took 30 races over nine months, but you knew he would get there at some point.
Jimmie Johnson is back on top of the standings, finishing first again Sunday at his home track on a day when typically dull Auto Club Speedway became hold-your-breath insanity in the final laps of the Pepsi 500.
"What an awesome day," Johnson said. "That's what we want. There's a lot of racing left, but we're in good shape."
Johnson's victory, his third consecutive win in the fall event at ACS, gives him the points lead for the first time this season. He's 12 points ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin, who finished fourth Sunday.
Now the question is obvious. Can anyone catch the master?
Can anyone stop Johnson and the No. 48 Chevy team from winning an unprecedented fourth consecutive Sprint Cup crown?
"They are the best out there and they're going to be hard to beat for this championship," said teammate Jeff Gordon. "Really, if they don't make a mistake, I don't see how they lose it."
That statement came from the man who finished second Sunday and battled Johnson for the win on three buck-wild restarts in the final 12 laps.
"We finished second and I felt we were in a second-class category," Gordon said. "We're good, but we're not good enough. We've got to search and find something. We have to be better than that. We have to find out what we're missing."
But can they? Can anyone?
Yes, it's only 12 measly points between Johnson and Martin -- nothing, really, with six races to go in the Chase.
But psychologically speaking, it has to be a little scary for the other Chase contenders. The man who has dominated this playoff format now can say, "Catch me if you can."
Johnson's average finish in four Chase races is 3.25.
"There still are some tracks in this deal that can change things in one lap," Gordon said. "But if it takes a third-place average over 10 races, then no, we're not going to win it."
Juan Pablo Montoya feels the same way after his third-place showing Sunday. Montoya is the only Chase driver to finish in the top five in all four playoff races, but he's losing ground. Montoya is 58 points behind Johnson.
"It's incredible," Montoya said in frustration. "You ain't gonna make any points. You just have to make sure you don't lose any.
"We're getting top-5s every week, but it would be nice if we could get a friggin' win soon. It's gonna happen. We know it's gonna happen. We're doing the best we can. If it's good enough, great. If not, we'll wait until next year."
Montoya was among the lucky ones Sunday. The 2-mile oval in Fontana never had a Cup show with as many zany closing laps as this one.
The double-file restart worked at ASC, producing an exciting ending to a race that was paint-dry boring before the restart rule spiced things up.
It was a little too spicy for some guys, including several Chase drivers.
Denny Hamlin was leading the race on one restart when he made a move inside too soon and clipped the front of Montoya's car, sending Hamlin sliding into the pit-road wall. He finished 37th.
"I just made a rookie mistake," Hamlin said. "I thought I was clear and I misjudged it. The 42 [Montoya] was getting a run being pushed by Jimmie. I apologize to my team. They deserve better than that. They got me out first. I made a bad mistake."
“” -- Kasey Kahne
NASCAR threw a debris caution for no debris. It's disappointing. We had a bad race because NASCAR wanted to put on a show for the fans. Sometimes it ruins people's day.
Kasey Kahne was another Chase victim, and he didn't like it one bit. He was involved in a wreck with two other Chaser drivers -- Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle -- with 12 laps to go on a restart after a debris caution.
"NASCAR threw a debris caution for no debris," Kahne said. "It's disappointing. We had a bad race because NASCAR wanted to put on a show for the fans. Sometimes it ruins people's day."
True, but the result was edge-of-your-seat action for another sparse crowd at ACS. Cars went four-wide at times, banging off the wall and each other. And each restart included drivers pushing the car in front of them, similar to a restrictor-plate race.
"With a straightaway this long, it's tough to control your destiny [on restarts]," Johnson said. "The guys behind you really control who will lead Turn 1. It's almost like Daytona or Talladega in the draft."
Johnson managed to avoid all the carnage and win on a day when his pit crew was less than stellar, costing him spots on the track three times.
"I knew on pit road we would win some and lose some," Johnson said. "But the cautions at the end really had me nervous. You just didn't know what to do on the restarts. But we're happy where we are."
And everyone else is unhappy, back in the same old Chase spot of trying to beat Johnson.
Can they catch him? Can anyone?
Terry Blount covers motorsports for ESPN.com. His book, "The Blount Report: NASCAR's Most Overrated and Underrated Drivers, Cars, Teams, and Tracks," was published by Triumph Books and is available in bookstores. Click here to order a copy. Blount can be reached at terry@blountspeak.com.
