DOVER, Del. -- There were tempting moments Sunday for Jimmie Johnson and his race team to have fun at the expense of everyone who doubted him. And by the time he left the Dover International Speedway, he was getting the last laugh.
A week earlier, everyone else in the Chase for the Championship had the misplaced confidence to write the five-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion off this year. He was 10th in the playoff standings and his heated banter with crew chief Chad Knaus suggested all wasn't well with the No. 48 team.
A second-place finish in the AAA 400 changed everything.
Now he's fifth in the standings, just 13 points behind leaders Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards.
"Are we out of it? Last week I was considered done," Johnson said after Sunday's race.
If anything, the race at Dover proved anything - and everything - will probably happen in the 10-race Chase. Tony Stewart won the first two races to take the lead in the playoffs, but he finished two laps down at the Monster Mile and dropped to a tie for third place with Dover winner Kurt Busch.
Heading into Sunday's race at the Kansas Speedway, there are nine drivers within 19 points of each other. And Johnson's right in the middle of it.
Johnson knows everyone in the garage is looking for something, that could keep him from extending his championship streak to six seasons. He knows his team will be under the microscope for the next seven races, and it's a pressure that he'
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