AVONDALE, Ariz. -- How could we be so foolish?

One little slipup at Texas that wasn't even his fault, and some of us actually believed for a few seconds that Mark Martin had a chance of at least taking this Chase for the Sprint Cup down to the wire with three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson.

The Closer

Pardon the baseball term, but Johnson may be the best closer in NASCAR history.

• Victory Lane: Phoenix
• No. 48 bounces back
• Race Rewind
• Texas wreck
• Johnson rolls at PIR

Well, if you believed it then, there is nothing that says you can't keep on dreaming. In the aftermath of Johnson's dominant victory Sunday in the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, it's over. But if you want to keep on fooling yourself into thinking Martin has a chance, NASCAR did make an announcement following the race.

Martin, who finished fourth in Sunday's race, now trails Johnson by 108 points heading into the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway next Sunday. He was down only 73 prior to the Phoenix race.

But get this: just after a NASCAR official announced that all Johnson has to do in Homestead to win his unprecedented fourth consecutive championship is start and finish 25th or better -- regardless of whatever Martin does -- it also was announced that history shows this deficit can be overcome. Already nine times in his career Martin has beaten Johnson by 108 points or more in a single race, including at Texas two weeks ago and at Homestead in the 2005 season finale.

Nine times out of 266.

If a Major League baseball batter had nine hits in 266 at-bats, his batting average would be .034. He wouldn't be a Major Leaguer any longer.

No, this time Johnson cannot fool us with his talk and his 38th-place Texas finish. It's over.

The proof

You want to know how we know? How we're absolutely certain now that it is indeed over?

Because, if you'll pardon another baseball term, Johnson is a closer. Maybe the best closer in NASCAR history -- and if not, certainly one of the top five.

Sure he had a rare bobble with the debacle in Texas, but that was an aberration of the rarest form. Not only that, but it merely served to sharpen the senses of Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus and the entire No. 48 team.

"I was really proud to show up the way that we did this weekend," Knaus said. "It would have been easy for us to come in here with our tails between our legs, really bow out, try to pull a conservative race, hang out, finish right behind the 5 [of Martin], whatever the situation may have been.

"We didn't want to do that. We wanted to come in here confident and go after it and attack."

They not only attack, they destroyed and demoralized their opponents. Johnson led 238 of the 312 laps that comprised the race. No one else led more than 69.

"We knew this was going to be a great track for the 5 and also for the 24 [of Jeff Gordon, yet another Hendrick Motorsports teammate]. The only way to get any points on 'em would be to lead the most laps and win the race," Johnson said.

"We did it. I'm very proud of the fact we looked each other in the eyes, knew what we had to do, and delivered. It wasn't easy. You know, there was a lot of pressure on us to do this. All week long, thinking about this race, wondering if we could come back and step up like we did, there were just a lot of thoughts that go through the brain. I'm very, very proud of how we delivered and rose to the occasion."

Not easy?

It wasn't easy? It sure looked easy.

But then, maybe that's why the excellence of Johnson and Knaus and the 48 gang so often goes unappreciated. It's not easy -- but there dang sure make it look like it is often enough.

“

You can't show 'em all your lines and tip your hand. I like to kind try to drive a couple of botched lines, so guys focus in on that. Then when they get close enough, you just drive back away.

”

JIMMIE JOHNSON

Sunday was one of those days, as Johnson won his series-high seventh race of this season. No one else has won five, so with one to go he's assured of having more victories than anyone else in 2009.

Standing in Victory Lane, where he sure looked comfortable, Johnson again insisted in the Sunday desert twilight that he's not and that this isn't over until he says it's over.

"If last weekend wasn't in my head, I would really go down there (to Homestead) feeling comfortable," Johnson said. "But it's still in my head. We finished 38th at Texas and Mark finished fourth, and we lost 111 points in one day. So we need to go down there and be on our toes and be smart about it."

Does anyone doubt that will be the case? In 35 races this season, he's finished outside of the top 25 only six times -- but never with the championship on the line like it will be in Homestead.

Johnson also was asked about his car following Sunday's event.

"In the middle of the race, the car was awesome," he replied. "I could do anything I wanted, anywhere. That last run there, the car wasn't as good as I would have hoped -- not bad, but not as strong as it was earlier in the day. It was still a strong car."

So strong that when Jeff Burton, who finished second, came gunning for him, Johnson was ready.

"I thought we were going to win, to be honest," Burton said. "I thought we had him. But he did what he always does -- he found a little bit of speed. We were running him down pretty hard, and he was able to pick up just enough to keep me away from him. We were still running him down, but not at the pace we needed to.

"So I honestly thought we were going to win. But in typical Jimmie Johnson fashion, he found a little bit of speed when he needed to and he was able to get away from us."

Asked about this analysis, Johnson grinned so hard it must have hurt, but in a good way.

"You can't show everybody what you've got. These guys are too smart," Johnson said. "You can't show 'em all your lines and tip your hand. I like to kind try to drive a couple of botched lines, so guys focus in on that. Then when they get close enough, you just drive back away. So it worked out."

There you have it. Johnson was only messing with Burton down the stretch. As it turns out, even with the whole Texas deal, Superman was only messing with all of us, including Martin.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

Joe Menzer is the author of "The Great American Gamble: How the 1979 Daytona 500 Gave Birth to a NASCAR Nation." Click here to purchase.