Aiming JIMMIE for
With just one race left, it's Johnson's championship to lose
By RICK MINTER
The 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup has become

After a shaky start, Jimmie Johnson has enjoyed a run of success late in the Chase, scoring five consecutive finishes of second or better. Only three drivers - Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamilin - are within 90 points of Johnson.

Jimmie Johnson's to lose. His competitors' only hopes heading into the last race at Homestead-Miami Speedway are that Johnson will blow an engine or crash in the Ford 400. Based on his recent performances, that likely won't happen. All he needs is a finish of 12th or better to secure his first Nextel Cup championship.

Kevin Harvick moved from fifth to third in points (90 points out of the lead) with a runaway victory in the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix, but he knows his odds are long.

But, as he said, "I know we've lost 100 [points] in some [races]."

Matt Kenseth, second in the standings despite another lackluster run, sounds like he left his title hopes in the desert at Phoenix.

His 13th-place finish, his fourth outside the top 10 in the past four races, caused his deficit to Johnson to widen from 17 to 63 points. What really concerns Kenseth, more than the points deficit, is his own team's poor performance of late.

Asked by reporters whether he could overtake Johnson, Kenseth responded, "Only if he blows up, and then we're running so bad right now that I don't feel like we can beat anybody."

On the other hand, it seems like Johnson and his No. 48 team are doing everything right. After posting finishes of 39th, 13th, 14th and 24th in the first four races of the Chase, he has reeled off five consecutive finishes of second or better.

Johnson said he has had a dominant car throughout the Chase, but the results weren't there early on.

"I think we were performing well at all the races where we had some bad luck and wrecks.We have been performing well."

Kenseth, Harvick and Denny Hamlin, who finished fourth in the 500 and is tied in points with Harvick, are the only drivers poised to take the title if Johnson suffers a major meltdown at Miami.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is fifth, an almost insurmountable 115 points out of the lead after finishing ninth at Phoenix.

The rest of the Chase participants are either on the brink of elimination or already out of the running. Jeff Gordon, at 167 points

out of the lead, will be eliminated once the Ford 400 starts on Sunday. Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch are out of the running.

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