Changes made to the No. 20 Chevrolet during pit stops kept Tony Stewart in the top 10. Credit: Autostock

Stewart stretches lead as Johnson falters

HAMPTON, Ga. -- With three races remaining in the Nextel Cup Series season, you'd think that the top two drivers in the series standings would have been in a better mood after Sunday's Bass Pro Shops/MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Inside the Chase Standings after Atlanta Pos. Driver Pts. Behind 1. T. Stewart 6,100 -- 2. J. Johnson 6,057 -43 3. G. Biffle 6,025 -75 4. C. Edwards 5,993 -107 5. R. Newman 5,993 -107 • Race Results, click here • Point Standings, click here • Lap-by-Lap, click here Final lapsEdwards cruises to the checkers to complete the AMS sweep Top finishersDale Jr. and Jeff Gordon talk about their finishes Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500Catch all the racing highlights from Atlanta Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

"Obviously, we wanted to run a little bit better than we did," said Tony Stewart, who kept a 43-point lead in the Chase for the Nextel Cup after a ninth-place finish.

Jimmie Johnson, meanwhile, remained the series runner-up after a 16th-place run he says was marred by a bad setup.

"We just didn't have a very balanced car," Johnson said. "We were really good in practice and in the middle of the race we were running in the top 10, holding our own. Just there at the end things changed and we got looser and looser.

Where problems drivers experienced in the past couple of races could have been attributed to tire problems or other drivers' mistakes, Johnson said there's only one place to assign blame in Sunday's case.

"I don't think it's anybody else's deal or fault," Johnson said. "My deal is just from the car being loose and I don't think our deal is anybody else's fault but our team's."

Johnson's finish at Atlanta was his worst since he finished 31st at Talladega nearly a month ago.

"We were competitive at one point. I just feel like the car was abusive and we were wearing the right rear out."

As far as the championship leader goes, his was a day that was good enough, but it could have been better.

"In the big picture, it was a solid day for us," Stewart said. "We got the lead once, we got five points early and that was a big goal for us, but as the race went on, we just kept fighting and we never could get the balance quite right.

Which he said can hurt you at a track like Atlanta.

"If you have any part of your car that's off here, if you're just a little too tight or a little too free, that's going to cost you time," Stewart said. "We were all over the board today. We were tight. We were loose."

But in Stewart's case, there was a silver lining.

Jimmie Johnson struggled with an ill-handling car to finish 16th. Credit: Autostock

"Zippy (crew chief Greg Zipadelli) and the crew made good calls in the pits and made good changes and that's what you have to have to overcome a day like we had today.

"It wasn't by any means a disastrous day, he said. "Obviously, we would have liked for it to have been better."

All told, both drivers aren't all that upset about where they stand in the big picture as they come down the home stretch.

"There's still a lot that can happen, it's too early to get excited," Stewart said. "But I'm excited for the next three weeks. We're going to tracks that I think we can run really well at, but at the same time, you have to take it just one day at a time."

Johnson wasn't quite as optimistic.

"We finished 16th," said Johnson. "It's not the end of the world, but there are three to go and we'll just keep fighting from here."