Texas the track Johnson took command of Chase

Jimmie Johnson didn't need a phone booth to change into his superhero's cape. At 190 mph, he wasn't going to be able to pull over and use it anyway.

If there was a moment in time that defined this year's Chase for the Nextel Cup, it came in the closing stages of the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, when Johnson affirmed his claim to the title in a thrilling side-by-duel duel with Matt Kenseth that resulted in Johnson's third win over a four-race victory streak.

With little fanfare before his entry to Cup and now with back-to-back championships, David Caraviello says Jimmie Johnson may be the sport's most impressive discovery.

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Combined with Jeff Gordon's seventh-place finish, Johnson built an insurmountable lead on his way to his second consecutive Nextel Cup championship, and reaffirmed that success is one byproduct of positive momentum.

"It's a very powerful tool, obviously as long as you're able to keep it in check," crew chief Chad Knaus said after the race. "Momentum can just as much be an enemy as it can be an asset because you'll see guys go out there and they will start to gain momentum, get a little cocky, a little lax and have a mistake.

"I think our team does a good job of taking momentum and turning it into a good thing and using it to almost like an energizer. When you go to the racetrack feeling comfortable with the decisions that you make, it makes me feel more comfortable when I'm making the pit calls on the pit box that the guys actually have good pit stops, so it boosts everybody's energy level up a good bit and obviously with the way Jimmie has driven the last few weeks, it helps."

With 34 laps remaining, Knaus decided to put four fresh tires on Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet, while Kenseth and several of the other leaders stopped for a two-tire change. And at that point, Knaus had only one piece of advice for his driver.

"When we stopped to take those tires there, I said, 'Man, ready to pull out your cape?'" Knaus said. "He said, 'Man, I've been waiting all night.'"

Immediately following the restart, Kenseth passed Ryan Newman for the lead, but once Johnson cleared the rest of the challengers, Kenseth's advantage soon dwindled to a few car-lengths. Lap after lap, Johnson tried the low groove but couldn't make it stick under Kenseth, as the two put their cars in the knife-edge of disaster, time and time again.

"If you saw on television, I was dead sideways, Matt was sideways, and he was crowding me and trying to move him up a little bit and trying to do all that at 190 miles an hour around here, it's pretty intense," Johnson said.

Finally, with the two racing toward the white flag, Johnson was able to get by Kenseth's No. 17 Ford for good. (Continued)