He has his opponents on the defensive, reeling from an early season surge that's seen him win three of the first five times out. Jimmie Johnson didn't have the best car at Fontana, didn't have the best car at Las Vegas, didn't have the best car at Bristol. Yet he won all of those races, capitalizing on that rare confluence of skill, preparation, timing and good fortune to demoralize a garage area that's been chasing him for four years. They thought they had closed the gap, and to a degree, they have. But a little bit of a gap is all that No. 48 team needs.

Head games

Advantage, Jimmie Johnson. He is winning battle of the mind.

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“

There's no doubt that when someone has been as dominant as they've been, you sit there and scratch your head ... They're just that good of a race team.

”

-- JEFF GORDON

You can tell, people are frustrated. After all, this is supposed to be the time of year where Johnson looks that least bit vulnerable, where historically he has some bad luck at Daytona, has a bad run at Las Vegas, and allows everyone else to fantasize that they might just have a chance. Johnson always has been the closer, the guy who comes on strongest when it matters most, the driver whose momentum late in the regular season and into the Chase batters opponents like waves against a rock. So to see him this good, this early, frightens people more than a Wes Craven flick.

"There's no doubt that when someone has been as dominant as they've been, you sit there and scratch your head and say, man, what do they have? What are they doing? What do we need to do differently?" asked Jeff Gordon, Johnson's teammate at Hendrick Motorsports. "They're just that good of a race team."

So understandably, everyone is agog over Jimmie. Jimmie has won three of five Sprint Cup races heading into little Martinsville Speedway, a track he's dominated. Jimmie is winning even when the No. 48 car isn't the best vehicle on the track. Jimmie is getting into other drivers' heads. Jimmie looks like he's picked right back up where he left off last season. Jimmie is capable of reconciling differences over the health-care bill. Jimmie is marching toward a fifth consecutive championship like Sherman marched toward Savannah.

There's just one thing about Jimmie that people keep forgetting.

Jimmie isn't leading the points.

Shockingly, no. As good as Jimmie and crew chief Chad Knaus have been this season -- and make no mistake about it, they've been damn good, capitalizing on every opportunity that's presented itself -- the man on top of the standings remains the somewhat overlooked Kevin Harvick, whose No. 29 car may not have the most victories this young season but has surely been the most consistent. With Jimmiephobia reaching such a fever pitch, you'd think the guy was up by 100 points on everyone else. Come the first Chase race, he may well be. But entering Martinsville, he's actually third behind Harvick and Matt Kenseth, a small indication that like objects in a rearview mirror, the competition between Johnson and the rest of the field is a little closer than it may appear. (Continued)