NATE RYAN and ZACK ALBERT
MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Jimmie Johnson is tired of talking about it, Denny Hamlin is tired of hearing about it and other Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers probably are tired of thinking about it.
The 10-race title run, however, again has become a one-sided story: Will NASCAR celebrate the first driver in its 61-year history to win four consecutive championships in its premier series?
It seems a compelling tale, but even the three-time defending champion isn't interested in discussing the details, at least before his No. 48 Chevrolet is crowned.
"It's the same stuff over and over again," said Johnson, who widened his lead to 118 points on Mark Martin with a runner-up finish to Hamlin in Sunday's Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. "I know it gives everybody something to talk about, but I'm tired of talking about all the what-ifs."
Said Hamlin: "I'm sure on the Web sites (today) there will be 12 stories (about) Jimmie. Mine will be in that little column, 'Denny Hamlin wins at Martinsville.' "
OK, fair enough. Hamlin's win at Martinsville was significant for several reasons. He set a personal single-season best with his third victory of 2009. He exacted a measure of revenge by leading the final 139 laps after nudging aside Johnson, who had bumped Hamlin for a Martinsville win in March. And the Chesterfield, Va., native won in his home state for the second time this year.
But some of the thunder from Hamlin's seventh career victory was stolen by Johnson, who has finished first or second in four of the last six races. The pace is so scorching that Juan Pablo Montoya (third) scored his fifth top-five of the Chase and yet lost 10 points to Johnson.
"The way he's running, you've probably got to win the next (four) and he's got to have some bad luck," Montoya said.
That's the outlook facing Martin (eighth), who could tally maximum points (195) by winning at Talladega Superspeedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway but still finish behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate in the standings if Johnson scores at least 165 points in each of those races. Johnson can do that by finishing at least fourth and leading a lap in each remaining race. That might seem a tall order until you consider that Johnson has posted an average finish of 3.0 since the 10-race playoff began.
"We need to pick it up," Martin said. "Eighths won't get it now."
The Sunday race at Talladega might be the last chance to catch Johnson, who has 15 top-fives in 32 starts at Texas, Phoenix and Homestead but four in 15 starts at the 2.66-mile oval.
"That is what everybody in the whole series is thinking now," said Darian Grubb, crew chief for Tony Stewart. "(Johnson) has that dominant performance. You have a strong run and still lose points. That is hard to swallow."
Maybe there's consolation in knowing it apparently is just as hard for Johnson.
"I'd just rather not," he said when asked a final time to contemplate his title chances. "It's too early to worry about points."
Working it out: After a skirmish that led to expletive-laden radio outbursts by both, Montoya and fifth-place finisher Jeff Gordon apparently settled their differences with a conversation.
"Every time we've been racing against him, he runs the hell out of me," Montoya said. "It got to a point like, 'Hey, I'm here, and you're not going to push me around.' Sometimes you've got to set a precedent so people back off a little. It's OK. I never had a big problem with him, but he's always so hard to race. But he probably says the same thing against me. It's a vicious circle."
Proceed with caution: Two yellow flags in the final 16 laps raised questions from the top two finishers. Hamlin had built a significant lead when a caution flag flew for debris on lap 485.
"I did see that debris for sure, however it was there at lap 100," Hamlin deadpanned. "I don't know if there was another piece of debris somewhere. But I know the piece I saw them pick up had been there for 200 or 300 laps."
The race ended under caution after John Andretti spun on the frontstretch, then stalled at the finish line. NASCAR officials waited on throwing the caution until the field barreled out of Turn 4. "It makes me a little nervous," Johnson said. "I wish it would be thrown a little bit earlier." Other series:@ Valentino Rossi clinched a seventh Moto GP championship by finishing third in the Malaysian Grand Prix, which was won by Casey Stoner. Sebastien Loeb captured his sixth World Rally Championship title by winning the Wales Rally, the final race of the season.Motor sports
