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History not on Johnson’s side in Chase

Sarah Rothschild McClatchy Newspapers

With Jimmie Johnson’s mastery at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, he now has won a Nextel Cup series-high seven races this season. Four races remain before the champion is crowned, but if history is an indication, Johnson might not be the driver raising the Nextel Cup at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Miami on Nov. 18.

In the previous 15 seasons, the driver with the most victories has won the championship only four times. Jeff Gordon, who holds a 53-point lead over Johnson, is the only driver during that span to win the most races and capture the championship.

However, since the inception of the Chase for the Cup in 2004, the driver with the most victories has not won the title. Last season, Chase driver Kasey Kahne won six races, yet finished eighth while Johnson won the championship. In 2005, champion Tony Stewart had five victories and runner-up Greg Biffle won six races. Kurt Busch won the inaugural Chase with three victories, which were five fewer than second-place Johnson.

Entering Sunday’s Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speeedway, Gordon has one less win than Johnson. The teammates are strong at the remaining tracks, and unless one of them stumbles and opens the door for third-place Clint Bowyer, Gordon and Johnson could have more fierce battles for victories.

“There’s no one we want to beat more than the 24,” Johnson said of Gordon’s team. “They make us step up every week, and I feel we do the same for them. I have respect for what everybody out there does, and when it comes to Jeff, I have even more.”

Johnson is vying to become the first repeat champion since Gordon, who achieved the feat in 1997-98.

McLaren appeals results

McLaren decided to appeal the results of Sunday’s Formula One finale in Brazil in the hopes that 22-year-old rookie Lewis Hamilton would be declared the champion. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen won the Brazil Grand Prix and the Formula One world championship. McLaren’s appeal to Formula One governing body seeks to get four drivers’ results disqualified because of fuel irregularities.