JOLIET, Ill. -- Are the days of Hendrick Motorsports dominance over?

It sure seemed that way in the aftermath of Sunday's Nextel Cup event at Chicagoland Speedway, where Tony Stewart snapped a 20-race winless streak to give Joe Gibbs Racing its second victory of the year (watch video). The class of NASCAR for much of this season, Hendrick has watched as rival organizations have claimed six of last seven races, including the last five in a row.

It seems a long way from the stretch of 10 victories in 14 race weekends that the Hendrick cars rattled off to open the year. Gibbs and Roush Fenway Racing, two teams with multiple championships, have each won twice since Hendrick last visited Victory Lane with points leader Jeff Gordon at Pocono.

"If you look back at the last 10 years, there's always a little cycle. There's kind of a wave," said Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs. "We've been through it. We've had the chance to win three of the last seven championships, Rick [Hendrick] has won a couple, Jack [Roush] has won a couple. It's just kind of a wave that comes and goes. I think the guys who are on top of their game consistently will be dominant. That's kind of our goal. You might not be winning everything, but you know your cars are good and your guys are good. That gives you kind of a peace there."

For the Gibbs team, it's just a matter of getting the finishes to match the cars they've had all season; Stewart ranks first on the circuit in laps led with 766, while Hamlin is fourth with 720. For the Roush organization, it's been a constant battle to improve cars that seemed woefully behind the competition at the outset of the year. Over the last five weeks they've compiled two wins and 10 top-10 finishes, Kenseth's runner-up result and Carl Edwards' third-place showing Sunday among them.

"Obviously, the Hendrick cars and the Chevys got off to an unbelievable start," Edwards said. "I think we've been working really hard, and we've been gaining a little ground. I feel like we had a car that could win the last five races, or something, which is way better than at the beginning of the season. I didn't feel like that [then]. So hopefully it continues, and by 10 races to go we'll be even better."

The Hendrick cars haven't exactly turned into jalopies. The organization placed two drivers in the top 10 Sunday, with Casey Mears placing fifth and Gordon finishing ninth. Jimmie Johnson had the best car of the first half of the race, leading 82 laps before a right-rear tie blew and sent his No. 48 car hurtling into the Turn 3 wall (watch video).

And Gordon is still leading the points, now by 303 over Hamlin, even though almost all of that advantage will disappear when the 12-man Chase begins in eight weeks. So he's taking nothing for granted. "Right now we're leading the points," he said, "but we've got to get better, that's for sure."

Hendrick is still in position to place three drivers in the Chase, with Mears -- improving, but still 16th in points -- as a long shot.

"I still think that the Chevy teams -- the 48 [of Johnson], the 24 [of Gordon] and the 20 [of Stewart] are still pretty tough," Kenseth said. "I feel like we're still a bit off to be able to beat them every week. That's how I feel myself, but we're getting closer."

Close enough that the 2007 season no longer feels like the Hendrick parade it once did. Regardless of how well the Hendrick cars run during the first 26 races, they have to hit their stride during the Chase. If they don't, the title will slip away regardless of how dominant they were in the season's opening weeks.

"The first 26 are real irrelevant, except for how many wins you've got," Stewart said. "That's the only thing those first 26 weeks count for, and that's getting you the bonus points. Other than that, as long as you're in the top 12, it doesn't matter whether you're first or 12th. As long as you're in there, that's what it takes to get you into the show. Then you need to be good from there. It's not a life or death situation if you have a bad day, as long as after 26 races you're in that top 12 group."