Johnson, Knaus show Indy that championship magic (cont'd)

Leading at Chicagoland in the very last race prior to Sunday's event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Johnson let Kyle Busch get to his outside on the final restart and lost the lead less than two laps from the checkered flag. He finished second to Busch, but blamed himself for not claiming the victory instead.

Johnson admitted that was on his mind at the end of Sunday's race before an estimated crowd of 240,000. He did not want to let his team down again -- especially after his pit crew took him from third to first on the final pit stop with eight laps left to go.

“

... in technical situations, I think there are only a handful of teams and drivers that kind of rise to the top. ... I feel like I am that guy and we are that team."

”

JIMMIE JOHNSON

This time, Johnson held off all challenges from eventual second-place finisher Carl Edwards down the stretch.

"It worked out," he said.

If there had been a hint that it might not, Johnson knew exactly what he planned to do.

"We weren't going to bring racecars back, the way it boiled down in my mind, on this last restart between Carl and I," he said, laughing.

Looking ahead

The rest of the race may have been a fiasco because of a tire situation that never should have occurred, but the fact is that the best car on the day probably won. Johnson led a race-high 71 laps, and obviously could not have done it without some heavy-handed assistance from the cagey Knaus.

Last year they were the team that proved all too often unbeatable as Johnson cruised to a second consecutive championship. This year, they often looked all too human.

Sunday may have been an indication that some of the not-so-old but quickly forgotten magic may be ready to return to the No. 48 team. Don't look now, Kyle Busch, but another championship contender might suddenly be lurking again in your rearview mirror.

"I think when I look at it from a driver's standpoint, at tracks that are unforgiving, re-paved, you see a majority of the field is fast and can get it done," Johnson said. "I mean, everybody's courageous and brave, committed to going fast.

"But when you get to technical tracks, find yourself in technical situations, I think there are only a handful of teams and drivers that kind of rise to the top. I wanted to be that guy. I feel like I am that guy and we are that team."

Johnson's second win at the famed Brickyard in three years vaulted him one spot forward in the point standings to fourth, only 44 behind Jeff Burton in third and just 62 behind Dale Earnhardt Jr., Johnson's Hendrick Motorports teammate who sits in second behind runaway leader Busch.

Next up for the Sprint Cup gang is Pocono, which is similar to Indianapolis in many ways (but hopefully not in the way Goodyear's tires disintegrated at Indy after eight to 10 hot laps). If Johnson and Knaus start heating up like the month of August, they could very well make Coach Moore extremely proud by the time Moore's own season opens.

Coach might even end up inviting Knaus up for a motivational speech of his own.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.

Also:
• Out of final pit stop first, Johnson wins Brickyard 'competition'
• Johnson commends NASCAR, Goodyear for cautious approach