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FONTANA, Calif. — Runner-up Jeff Gordon suggested that if his teammate doesn't make mistakes in the final six races, this Chase is over before it has reached the halfway point.

Juan Pablo Montoya, the only driver to finish in the top five in each of the first four Chase races, still lost ground to the points leader.

Such is Jimmie Johnson's domination.

A repeating refrain that either thrills or chills fans, Johnson again won Sunday.

"Really, unless they make a mistake, I don't see how they lose," Gordon said of a fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship for Johnson.

Before the trophy is engraved, Johnson is only 12 points ahead of teammate Mark Martin. Montoya, who finished third Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, lurks, 58 points back. Tony Stewart is 84 points behind. No one else is within 100 points of Johnson as the Chase heads toward the halfway mark next week at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

With another title seemingly close, Johnson won't talk about what could be.

"I don't want to go there," he said. "I don't want to think about those things."

It's hard not to at this point. While Johnson's car might have been perfect, his day wasn't. Yet, he still won.

His smooth pit crew hiccupped a couple of times and he twice lost the lead in the pits. Another time he fell six spots after a stop.

Didn't matter this day, as he still charged to the front. One of those slower stops actually favored him.

Johnson entered the pits first on lap 186 of the 250-lap race and exited third behind Denny Hamlin and Montoya. Hamlin surged ahead on the double-file restart. He came down the track to block Montoya just as Montoya shot forward with the help of an aerodynamic push from Johnson. Hamlin and Montoya hit. Hamlin wrecked. He finished 37th, all but ending his title hopes.

"It was just a dumb mistake," Hamlin said, watching as his crew performed triage on his wrecked racer.

It's the type of mistakes not often associated with Johnson and one of the reasons why he's one of the sport's best drivers. And why he keeps winning championships.

And why as the temperatures cool each fall, Johnson heats up. Consider:

* He has won two of the four Chase races this year.

* He has won five of the last 12 Chase races (41.6 percent)

* He has won 16 of the 54 Chase races run (29.6 percent)

Johnson explains his dominance by saying the tracks in the Chase match his driving style. In one way, he should be dominating. One of the best drivers, if not the best, combined with the sport's best organization should win more races than most.

Waiting for Johnson to make mistakes won't win this championship. Even if Johnson doesn't win this title, Hendrick Motorsports is in position to do so with Martin. Of course, it is Martin's luck to be in this title race.

Martin's best previous year came in 1998 when he won seven races but finished second to Gordon, who had one of the best seasons in the modern era and won the title. Martin lost the 1990 title to Dale Earnhardt when Earnhardt had one of his winningest seasons.

While that doesn't mean Martin is destined to finish second to Johnson in this Chase, it does show the challenge he faces.

Martin, though, will just keep racing ... just as he did on the final restart, giving Johnson the push he needed to keep ahead of Gordon.

"The tough part at the end of the race was the restarts," Johnson said. "It's tough to control your destiny on a restart because the guys behind you really control who is going to lead going into turn 1. Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you don't. It's almost like being at Daytona or Talladega with the drafts."

While others helped his destiny on the final restart, what happens next in the Chase will depend solely on what Johnson and his crew do.

That does not bode well for the competition.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com

Pepsi 500 Results
By The Associated Press
Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, Calif.
Lap length: 2 miles
(Start position in parentheses)

1. (3) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 250 laps, 195 points, $302,801.
2. (10) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 250, 175, $211,426.
3. (4) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 250, 170, $195,773.
4. (9) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 250, 165, $136,625.
5. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 250, 160, $143,248.
6. (11) Carl Edwards, Ford, 250, 150, $158,356.
7. (31) David Ragan, Ford, 250, 146, $117,500.
8. (24) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 250, 147, $121,925.
9. (8) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 250, 138, $113,950.
10. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 250, 134, $142,828.
11. (16) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 250, 130, $121,525.
12. (22) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 250, 127, $120,810.
13. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 250, 124, $144,340.
14. (6) Joey Logano, Toyota, 250, 121, $144,951.
15. (36) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 250, 118, $128,054.
16. (14) David Stremme, Dodge, 250, 115, $131,215.
17. (34) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 250, 112, $105,575.
18. (42) David Reutimann, Toyota, 250, 109, $121,348.
19. (40) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 250, 111, $104,000.
20. (2) Greg Biffle, Ford, 250, 90.9, 103, $113,400.
21. (21) Scott Speed, Toyota, 249, 100, $109,373.
22. (5) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 249, 102, $129,240.
23. (27) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 249, 94, $106,773.
24. (19) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 248, 91, $138,098.
25. (37) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 248, 88, $108,450.
26. (35) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 247, 85, $120,279.
27. (41) Paul Menard, Ford, 247, 82, $122,906.
28. (26) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 247, 79, $91,875.
29. (32) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 246, 76, $117,598.
30. (18) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, accident, 245, 73, $136,531.
31. (28) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, accident, 244, 70, $126,526.
32. (39) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, accident, 244, 67, $97,100.
33. (12) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, accident, 244, 64, $90,000.
34. (25) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, accident, 244, 61, $131,448.
35. (15) Max Papis, Toyota, 244, 58, $89,950.
36. (29) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 209, 55, $96,900.
37. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, accident, 195, 57, $123,050.
38. (38) Robby Gordon, Toyota, accident, 121, 49, $107,560.
39. (13) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, electrical, 29, 46, $88,750.
40. (43) Michael McDowell, Toyota, overheating, 25, 43, $88,700.
41. (33) Dave Blaney, Toyota, overheating, 22, 40, $88,655.
42. (30) David Gilliland, Chevrolet, overheating, 13, 37, $88,590.
43. (23) Mike Bliss, Dodge, engine, 11, 34, $88,180.

RACE STATISTICS

Average speed of race winner: 143.908 mph.
Time of race: 3 hours, 28 minutes, 28 seconds.
Margin of victory: 1.603 seconds.
Caution flags: 8 for 30 laps.
Lead changes: 29 among 9 drivers.

Lap leaders: D.Hamlin 1-10; J.Johnson 11-24; J.Montoya 25-39; Ku.Busch 40-41; J.Johnson 42-43; J.Montoya 44-60; J.Johnson 61; J.Montoya 62-64; D.Hamlin 65-67; M.Martin 68-72; J.Montoya 73-81; J.Johnson 82; M.Truex Jr. 83-86; J.Montoya 87-114; J.Johnson 115-118; J.Andretti 119; D.Hamlin 120-124; J.Johnson 125-159; J.Montoya 160; J.Gordon 161; T.Stewart 162; J.Johnson 163-186; D.Hamlin 187-189; J.Montoya 190-194; J.Johnson 195-227; Ku.Busch 228; T.Stewart 229-233; J.Johnson 234-238; J.Gordon 239-243; J.Johnson 244-250.

Leaders summary (driver, times led, laps led): J.Johnson, 10 times for 126 laps; J.Montoya, 7 times for 78 laps; D.Hamlin, 4 times for 21 laps; J.Gordon, 2 times for 6 laps; T.Stewart, 2 times for 6 laps; M.Martin, 1 time for 5 laps; M.Truex Jr., 1 time for 4 laps; Ku.Busch, 2 times for 3 laps; J.Andretti, 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 12 in points: 1. J.Johnson, 5,728; 2. M.Martin, 5,716; 3. J.Montoya, 5,670; 4. T.Stewart, 5,644; 5. J.Gordon, 5,623; 6. Ku.Busch, 5,607; 7. G.Biffle, 5,540; 8. C.Edwards, 5,536; 9. D.Hamlin, 5,509; 10. R.Newman, 5,505; 11. K.Kahne, 5,422; 12. B.Vickers, 5,377.