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.

Johnson is such a technician at the track that he sounds like a surgeon when he talks about how he attacks it. He literally picks it apart all day long, making intricate adjustments in his driving style as constantly changing conditions demand it.

"On a lap around here, you're just trying to figure out where your car has grip and then you try to take advantage of those areas," Johnson said. "Sometimes you have a car that's very good up off the corner, so you change your line a little bit and make sure you can make the straightaways as long as possible to really use frontal application.

"Other times, if the setup doesn't work and you're really strong on the brakes, you'll try to shift that arc a little bit in the center of the corner. Instead of making it this way for the exit, you kind of shift it the other way and try to roll around the corner as far as you can, and then use as little throttle as you can, and make sure you're as straight as possible up off [the corner].

"So that's where, in the race, the track changes a lot and you'll see the rubber start laying down. And you have to make those adjustments. You have to have different lines and different arcs [coming off the corners]. The grip level changes, so you're just constantly shifting that around. And that's really where I feel like I've come into my own at this track -- especially when we get 20 or 30 laps on a run and you've really got to move that stuff around."

And that's not all, Johnson explained. More than anything else, you just need to have a feel for your car and the surface it's riding on -- and he seems to have figured out that combination better than anyone else at this place. It's all about getting through the tight corners the quickest, and being the fastest on the exit.

"Most guys know you need to be smart on the brakes, so you charge the corner," Johnson said. "I use the rev chip a lot to set the rhythm for me, so I'll hit the chip, a fair amount of brake, and as I get close to the curbing, I kind of get off the brake and let it roll.

"And there is a point where you feel the car hitch. Once it hitches, and you can kind of see the exit, you start searching for the throttle. It's amazing how little throttle can upset the car here. So a very delicate right foot is important to get around here as well."

It's also important to keep moving toward the front throughout the race, Johnson added. That helps a driver avoid getting caught up in somebody else's mess at a place where that tends to happen often -- but not so much to Johnson.

"You're still comfortable when you're going forward," Johnson said. "I'd say by my second race here, I'd figured out how to pass people. If you keep moving forward, people are patient with you. If you're holding up a long train of cars, you know you've got something coming.

"So my comfort level probably does change during the race. As long as I'm going forward, I feel very comfortable and good about things. And if I'm holding guys up, that's when I worry. But I'll tell you, the second race I ever ran was when it really clicked for me here. I was following Stewart through the pack and there was just a rhythm about it that I didn't see and didn't understand. It took following Tony to figure it out."

These days, it's Stewart and everyone else who tend to follow Johnson at Martinsville.