Johnson moves one step closer to Cup Series history

Good bye, Martinsville. Hello, Atlanta. ... For the No. 48 team, only the city names change. The result, it's as constant as Craig Sager's wardrobe: You might not like it, but beneath the surface there is substance.

Jimmie Johnson rolled out of Martinsville on Sunday with his fourth victory in five Chase races at the Virginia short track. He rolls into Atlanta looking for his third win in five playoff starts at the 1.54-mile track; his average finish is 5.0 during stretch-run races at AMS.

So, you're a Chaser chasing the two-time defending Cup Series champion? Good luck. The nearest competitor, Greg Biffle, is 149 points behind. Jeff Burton (-152) is the only other driver within a race's worth of points of Johnson. This -- the 2008 Chase -- is a rout. Even under the previous point system, Johnson would be schooling the competition.

And yet, the system works. There's no need for change. At least not until Johnson gets within shouting distance of seven series championships. (Hey, it's happened before ...)

• It's really a stat that speaks to a driver's / team's ability to keep the car on the track, and I've always kept an eye on the "Running at the Finish" column. It's one of those "never-say-die" stats. Did you know, that if Dale Earnhardt Jr. can git 'r done for three of the next four races he'll set a personal mark of 34 RAFs? (He had 33 in 2002 and '06.)

Dale Earnhardt was good at it; he was running at the finish in 86 percent of his races (581 of 676). Junior's pace is a tick better: 87 percent (281 of 323).

• It's déjà vu all over again for Jeff Gordon: Another top-five finish, another race where he lost points to the leader. He -- and every other Chase driver -- has experienced this, but it's bittersweet for the four-time Cup Series champion. Did anyone expect his fifth, sixth and seventh trophies to come as a "car owner"?

Entering Atlanta, Gordon is 33 points behind fifth-place Clint Bowyer, and a ninth top-five points finish is the best Gordon can shoot for.

• Casey Mears' sixth-place run at Martinsville was his first top-10 since Loudon (seventh) in June. All four Hendrick Motorsports cars finished in the top 10; no real surprise, considering the team has won nine of the past 12 races at the track.

Mears has racked up 648 points in the past six races -- more than Chase drivers Denny Hamlin (643) and Kyle Busch (548). (Continued)