BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Is one of the strangest droughts in NASCAR, Jimmie Johnson's winless record at Bristol Motor Speedway, about to come to an end?

That certainly appears a possibility, given how the No. 48 car dominated Saturday's two Cup Series practices on the half-mile concrete oval. Johnson paced both sessions, posting a fastest lap of 122.287 mph in Happy Hour that placed him ahead of Juan Montoya, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray and pole winner Joey Logano on the speed chart.

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I feel that I have made a lot of gains here. ... Race-wise, I'm figuring out the rhythm. It's been eight, nine years coming up here, even add two years of Nationwide racing in there, and I'm finally getting the rhythm I like here.

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-- JIMMIE JOHNSON

"We feel pretty good about it," crew chief Chad Knaus said. "The last three races we've had here, we've had really, really good cars. We had a decent qualifying effort, our car is running well, and Jimmie is pretty pleased with it. We'll see what happens."

Bristol is one of only six places on NASCAR's premier circuit where Johnson has never won, and perhaps the most confounding given his traditional strength on other short tracks. This weekend, though, has been different. Johnson qualified fourth for Sunday's Food City 500, and is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes at Bristol. Clearly he's become more comfortable with the place, despite his zero-for-16 record and his average finish of 15.9 at the facility.

"I feel that I have made a lot of gains here," Johnson said. " ... Race-wise, I'm figuring out the rhythm. It's been eight, nine years coming up here, even add two years of Nationwide racing in there, and I'm finally getting the rhythm I like here."

Johnson has tried a little bit of everything to get better at Bristol, even having five-time Bristol winner and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon shake down his No. 48 car. Johnson may be dominant at Martinsville, another half-mile layout where he has won six times, but not all of the skills transfer -- at Bristol, drivers are more in the throttle coming into the corner, while at other short tracks the opposite is true.

"There's just a certain rhythm here that has not fit my style," Johnson said. "And I have been in the same cars as Jeff. Identical set-ups. We've been here back when we could test. He's driven my car and went a lot faster. I've done everything, and the rhythm of this race track hasn't fit my style. I have continued to work on it. The last two races here, I've felt very competitive. I seem to still struggle in qualifying, but ... I feel much more confident in the race, and I feel that we do have a chance to win here."

That's a change from past years, when Johnson almost had to force himself to like the place. Third- and eighth-place finishes in last season's two races certainly helped. No question, though, it's still a work in progress -- Saturday Johnson made 116 laps in final practice, more than any other driver.

"It took Jimmie a little bit of time to get figured out what he needed to do," Knaus said. "Now that he's made some laps here and he's had some races, he's gotten much, much better. Now we're able to communicate and talk about what the car is actually doing, and make the car better for him."