“Maximum points day brother!”

That was the radio transmission from Crew Chief Chad Knaus to driver of the #48 Jimmie Johnson following the latter’s dominant performance at the “Monster Mile” on Sunday.

Johnson won the race, collected bonus points for leading the most laps and alerted the racing world once again to be on notice. The #48 is poised for a fifth straight championship. In fact, through two of the 10 “playoff” races, Johnson has now jumped to second in the 12-driver standings – just 35 points behind series leader Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota stated a team goal before the “playoff” began of hoping to be within shouting distance of the #48 after the first two races – Loudon and Dover not being two of his better venues.

With the lead comes additional pressure on Hamlin, Crew Chief Mike Ford, and the rest of the #11 team. Pressure he hasn’t traditionally handled well. Perhaps the gritty effort of Hamlin and his team during the 2010 season has set him up for a dramatic Championship run? Battling through the early season knee injury and proving his toughness at tracks like Phoenix have established Hamlin’s will to win.

The proof, however, is not in Hollywood scripts. It is in on-track performance.

Hamlin has shown his toughness. Johnson, however, has demonstrated the consistency of a Champion – four consecutive years.

With last weekend’s win under its belt, the #48 team has vaulted into a line on the Fifth.