MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Maybe Tony Stewart is to blame for Jimmie Johnson's dominance at Martinsville Speedway.

According to Johnson, Stewart is the one who first showed him the way around the paperclip oval. But since then, Johnson has taken negotiation of the .526-mile track to an entirely different level of his own.

Heading into Sunday's TUMS QuikPak 500, Johnson has won three of the last four races at the facility. He finished fourth at Martinsville in the spring race, snapping his string of three wins in a row. That kind of track record doesn't bode well for the 11 drivers trying to catch the points leader in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, as Johnson continues his bid to become the second driver in NASCAR history to win three consecutive titles.

"It's crazy for me to think that we've had so much success here -- because when I started, the first time that I ran here, I had no idea what I was doing or where I was on the track," Johnson said. "We tested once beforehand and we tested a second time before my second event here, and it felt to me like it took a long time to click.

"In fact, it took my following Tony Stewart up through the field in that second race to finally learn the rhythm of this track. It's a quirky track. Obviously it's hard on brakes and hard on forward bite and all those types of things, but I think the diverse background I've had in racing has helped me here and helped guys like Tony and Jeff [Gordon] as well be very strong here."

Gordon might be strong. But he hasn't won a race this season and hasn't won at Martinsville since sweeping both events at the facility in 2005. Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammate is the former Mr. Martinsville. Even he conceded that fact when Johnson won at the track during the Chase a year ago.

"To me, Jimmie has been extremely impressive -- not just him, but his whole team. You can't do it on your own," said Gordon, who ended up being fastest in the final practice Saturday -- right in front of Johnson, who was second. "When it counts most and the championship is on the line, they seem to step it up in the clutch."

That includes the Chase races at Martinsville, of which Johnson has won the last two. (Continued)