Has Jimmie Johnson taken control of the championship once again? After Sunday’s race at Martinsville, everyone in the garage is on alert. Johnson took his first victory in the Chase with a relatively dominant effort. His biggest challenge on the day was Denny Hamlin, who was seeking an important win to buoy his own championship hopes. Unfortunately for Hamlin, an issue with the Master Control Switch ruined his race, and likely his championship run.

The points leader going into Martinsville was Brad Keselowski, who has refused to cave under the pressure from the 5-time champion. Keselowski qualified poorly, but ran competitively all day and nearly parlayed a late strategy call into a victory. It didn’t pan out perfectly, but Keselowski managed a 6th place finish. Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer, and Jeff Gordon were the only other Chase drivers who ran strongly all day. Bowyer and Gordon led three times in the race, but finished somewhat disappointingly in 5th and 6th. Kahne never really contended for the win, but finished a strong third.

Overall, the top-10 was a mix of Chase contenders and surprises. Kyle Busch (2nd), Aric Almirola (4th), Brian Vickers (8th), and Bobby Labonte (9th) all ran strong races and earned good finishes. Chase contender Greg Biffle rounded out the top-10. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in his return to the series, had a strong run all day, breaking into the top-5 at one point. A late call to stay out under a caution put him on the front row for a late restart, but his old tires caused him to fall back quickly, eventually getting spun out. He finished21st, which was good for last on the lead lap.

With only three races remaining, the points standings look as follows:

All drivers are still mathematically in contention, but it’s really just a two-horse race. Johnson and Keselowski are only two points apart, but there is a real chance that Johnson may run away with it. The biggest challenge for Keselowski and the Penske Racing team will be striking back and maintaining pace with Johnson’s team. Experience is worth a lot all of the time, but especially this time of year. Johnson and his crew chief Chad Knaus are 5-time champions. They know how to get it done. I don’t expect them to stumble in these final races.

In 2006, Johnson’s only Chase victory was at Martinsville. He won the championship. In 2007, Johnson’s first Chase win was at Martinsville, and he turned it into a four-race win streak en-route to another championship. Johnson also won the Martinsville Chase race in 2008 on his way to his third consecutive title. The point is that this team knows how to get it done, especially in similar circumstances.

Teams have made their way to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for this week’s event at the Texas Motor Speedway. The April race there was won by Biffle. Johnson, however, led the most laps that day and finished second. Keselowski finished 36th, 22 laps down. Last season’s winner of this particular race was Tony Stewart, who would go on to win the championship. That was only the second time a driver won the fall Texas race and the championship, the other being Johnson in 2007.

The favorites this week have to be the drivers for both Roush Fenway Racing and Hendrick Motorsports. Kenseth, Biffle, and Carl Edwards have combined for seven wins at Texas, while Johnson, Kahne, Gordon, and Earnhardt, Jr. each have one victory there. It would be very hard for me to pick anyone but Johnson at this point, however. That team is poised to close the season out strong. Coverage of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 begins at 1pm on ESPN.