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Squeezing out that top-10 finish not only kept him within striking distance of Keselowski, it allowed Johnson to widen the gap on Denny Hamlin, who finished 13th. Hamlin now trails Keselowski by 20 points, and is 13 behind Johnson.
That's important as they head into the final month of the Chase, which shifts Sunday to Martinsville Speedway, where Johnson and Hamlin have combined to win nine of the last 12 races. The two were unbeatable for a nine-race stretch, but haven't been to Victory Lane since Hamlin's win in the 2010 Chase.
Hamlin, disappointed with the Kansas results, took to Twitter to hint at Martinsville's importance.
"Time for MAX points," Hamlin tweeted Sunday night.
He nailed his last bold proclamation, backing up a "we will win next week" tweet after Chicago with a victory at New Hampshire in Round 2 of the Chase.
Johnson, a master at being able to block out the competition, said Hamlin's public declarations don't bother him.
"It's a great track for him. Everybody has ways that they express themselves, motivate themselves or their team, fan base," Johnson said. "Some people feel it's important to do, and how they want to handle it.
Johnson pointed out that he often uses the "(hashtag)sixpack" on his own tweets in reference to his quest for a sixth championship, "to make my fans feel and know that's where my head is. So I don't see anything wrong or bad with it."
Martinsville is also a great track for Johnson, who has six wins and 18 top-10s in 21 career starts. Although he hasn't won since spring of 2009, he led 111 laps in April and was en route to the victory until he was wrecked on the final restart. A year ago, he was passed by Tony Stewart on the final restart.
"It's pressure time, it's go time, it's all that stuff with four to go," he said. "The points as tight as they are, we expect to be one of the cars racing for the win. We're showing up, racing hard, putting in everything we have got, which is to be expected by everybody at this point, and we'll see how things turn out."
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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