Johnson pads lead with best Infineon finish

SONOMA, Calif. -- Jimmie Johnson was standing on pit road at Infineon Raceway Sunday, gabbing with a handful of reporters when his fiancee, Chandra Janway, walked up.

"I feel like you won!" she said.

"So do I, honey," Johnson replied.

Johnson's fifth-place effort in the Dodge/Save Mart 350 was by far his best career run at Infineon -- and it spoke volumes of his overall driving ability and further bolstered his claim as a championship contender in 2004.

DODGE/SAVE MART 350 Jeff Gordon celebrates his fourth Sonoma win Play video Ganassi puts three cars in the top seven Play video Several drivers review their efforts at Sonoma Play video Gordon cruises to his eighth road-course victory Play video More trouble for Earnhardt Jr. and Robby Gordon Play video Robby Gordon loses a wheel and track position Play video Stewart and Junior run into early trouble Play video  •  Results  •  Standings

"I'm very happy to come to one of my weakest tracks and pull a top-five out of it," said Johnson, who finished 35th and 17th in two previous starts at Sears Point.

"When I look forward to the rest of the year, there isn't anywhere on the schedule that I don't feel I can go win at. I'm very, very pleased with what we were able to accomplish today."

Especially considering where he began. Johnson got loose during qualifying Friday and nearly wrecked, resulting in a season worst 34th-place starting position.

No matter. Ten laps in he was already up to 19th. But when Robby Gordon went off the course to bring out the day's first caution, Johnson pitted, putting him in the back again.

"There was a lot going on. We tried to catch the pits before the red flag came out on a caution and it was too early for us to really capitalize on it, and I had to start dead last again and come up through there," Johnson explained.

"So twice I had to come through the field. I had a great racecar, and I have to think my race team. These guys love me, support me, and even when I was down on Friday they wouldn't let me be there."

Johnson's improvement is marked. He came out West early in the week to attend a two-day tutorial at the Bondurant racing school. He's uncertain whether that was the difference, or if it was more an attitude adjustment.

"Last year I had some troubles. It's really hard to tell what I learned to help the car, but I drove easier today and finished fifth, and I drove my butt off last year and finished 17th," Johnson said.

For the first time, he utilized a setup similar to that of mentor Jeff Gordon, arguably the greatest road racer in NASCAR history and Sunday's race winner.

"He's just damn good. That's all there is to it," Johnson said. "For once I was able to have a setup close to his. We still weren't the same, but now that I'm finally driving one of these cars right on a road course, my setup was a lot more in his direction."

Johnson is certainly pointed in the right direction in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. His three victories tie Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for tops in the Nextel Cup Series, and his 11 top-fives and 12 top-10s are both series bests.

Moreover, on Sunday he extended the series points lead he earned last week at Michigan, from seven points to 27.

"There's been a few big races for us," Johnson said. "The win at Darlington, then to go to the 600 and back it up there. The road course. Martinsville -- we're knocking on a win there. All these big hurdles out in front of me, we keep clearing them. I'm pretty surprised."