Pepsi 500 win has Johnson primed for title run

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - It's certainly been the season of Kyle Busch, and Carl Edwards has definitely proved himself a credible championship threat.

But lest anyone forget, this is Jimmie Johnson's favorite part of the year. The two-time defending NASCAR champion reminded everyone of that Sunday night with a dominant victory in California that most certainly served as a wake-up call to the competition. Johnson led all but 22 of the 250 laps in the Pepsi 500, then beat Greg Biffle to the finish line in Fontana by a cruise-control 2.076 seconds. It was his third win of the season and helped chip away at the lead Busch and Edwards will have over him when the Chase for the championship begins Sept. 14 at New Hampshire. Plain and simple, it was a statement race. Johnson will not quietly step aside. If he loses his title, he'll at least go down fighting.

"I feel like we're doing the right things to have a fighting chance at the championship," Johnson said after Sunday night's win.

That's bad news for Busch, Edwards and everyone else in the 12-driver championship field.

This is the time of the year when Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team kicks into the highest gear. The No. 48 team races to win every week, but when the title is up for grabs, that crew literally takes no prisoners in pursuit of perfection.

Johnson has been been quiet this year, deferring to Busch's dominance and Edwards' recent emergence.

Busch has a Cup series-best 8 victories this season - some of them by the same dominant standard Johnson showed Sunday night - and 18 overall spanning NASCAR's top three series. He's the Cup points leader and will start the Chase at the top of the standings with at least 80 bonus points with one more race to go.

Edwards has 6 Cup victories and is second in the standings. But his bonus points only stand at 50 because NASCAR docked him 10 when his race-winning car failed inspection at Las Vegas.

Either way, those two drivers have dominated the schedule while the champ faded from the headlines. Johnson doesn't mind, though, knowing the upcoming stretch is really all that matters.

"We have three (wins) now, so we are halfway to Carl," he said. "I'm happy to see people are considering us as a realistic chance for the Chase and a championship contender because our results have shown that, and we have been chipping away at it and getting closer to those guys."