Johnson in driver's seat after Talladega 'survival'

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Jimmie Johnson has to have a stable-full of horseshoes, a crate of lucky charms and rabbits by the foot.

How else can you explain Sunday's Amp Energy 500?

He went from being so far off the pace during the early stages of the race -- getting lapped by the field after just 25 laps -- to somehow dodging a major wreck that wiped out half of the Chase field, finishing ninth and putting himself securely in the driver's seat for a possible Sprint Cup three-peat.

And nobody was breathing a bigger sigh of relief at the checkered flag than Johnson, who saw Talladega as a major hurdle (watch video). Instead, it was Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards who loaded wrecked racecars -- and perhaps wrecked championship hopes -- on their haulers after a Lap 174 incident that took out a total of 12 cars, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

"When you look at the trouble that Chasers had [Sunday], that's what we all feared," Johnson said. "And the two cars, the No. 16 and the No. 99 rode in the back all day long until it was time to go. You still get all these guys together at once racing for the win and stuff happens. And it certainly did. And you wouldn't think it would between two teammates, but it did. I don't know how I got through, too, to be honest with you. But it was a solid day and an awesome finish."

Not to say that Johnson's day wasn't without misfortune. In fact, it started with Johnson's team deciding to inspect the engine's cylinder walls, to figure out why the No. 48 Chevrolet didn't seem quite right in Saturday's qualifying. That put Johnson at the tail end of the field at the start, and he promptly lost the draft right off the bat (watch video).

"I'm mentally drained after [Sunday's] performance," Johnson said. "It started [Saturday] with qualifying. We weren't sure what was going on and [Sunday], the car was pretty flat still. I lost the draft at the start of the race because I couldn't hang on and then from there we got our lap back and dodged wrecks and raced really hard."

Crew chief Chad Knaus felt the pressure, as well, but showing the resolve that has resulted in back-to-back titles, kept the team and driver focused.

"Obviously, it was a very stressful day," Knaus said. "The car just didn't run the way it did [earlier in the weekend]. Ever since we went through tech and got the restrictor plate, the shocks and the springs, it just never ran the same as it did on Friday.

"We had to struggle. It was a day of survival. But Jimmie did a great job of missing all the wrecks and the pit crew did a great job of making adjustments on the car. We didn't create any more problems than what we'd already had. Heck, I think we made up points on just about everybody, so that was a day well done."

Johnson had an opportunity to put even more ground between himself and the Chase contenders, but when the car wouldn't respond on the final restart, he decided to take what he could get.

"I couldn't even accelerate and hang on to the cars in front of me," Johnson said. "So I was kind of in no-man's land and they came thundering by and the next thing you know, I'm the last car in that lead draft. And I was hanging on just to stay there, too. I don't know why the car wouldn't suck up and go.

"I felt comfortable being aggressive in the end with such a small group of guys. I had a feeling to stay single file and maybe if we get an outside lane going, I could get a top-five or something out of it. But it just didn't accelerate on that restart. I couldn't go anywhere."

Johnson's good fortune, combined with a bad drafting decision by Edwards that wrecked three Roush cars (watch video), leaves him 72 points ahead of Edwards and 77 in front of Biffle. But don't think for a moment that Johnson is already getting fitted for the winner's tuxedo.

"We just keep racing. And we race smart and we do what we can," Johnson said. "I've realized in the past that the whole sport falls into a comfort zone and thinks that 60, 80, or 100 points is a big gap. But truly, that can go away in a hurry.

"So I'm happy that it is what it is, but I know there is a lot of racing ahead of us. If I had a [72-point] lead going into Homestead, I'd feel a lot better. But with six to go, there's plenty of racing left."