HOMESTEAD, Fla. - It just doesn't seem real yet to Jimmie Johnson.
With Johnson on the threshold of winning his second consecutive NASCAR Nextel Cup Series title in today's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, it seems so surreal for the driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet.
"I have to admit there is a level of being surprised living this and experiencing it," said Johnson, who has won the last four races of the Chase for the Cup in dominating fashion. "I'm not doing anything different; my team isn't. We're still doing the same things we've done all year long and it's just going our way.
"I think we recognize that, and we know as well as it's going now, it could change and go the other direction."
But everyone in the garage area knows that is not likely. Not with Johnson behind the wheel and crew chief Chad Knaus atop the pit box. When Johnson went out Friday afternoon and won the pole position for today's finale, it only solidified his standing, as he holds an 86-point lead over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, who conceded, "It's over," and waved a white flag in Victory Lane after Johnson's victory last Sunday in Phoenix.
"We've got one left," said Gordon, who qualified 11th. "And we don't want to wish anybody any bad luck. So if those guys keep doing what they've been doing - which I don't expect them not to - I think it's going to be very, very difficult to see anything different happen than what we've been seeing the last several weeks."
All Johnson needs to become the first repeat champion since Gordon (1997-98) is to finish 18th in today's race. If he leads at least one lap, he can fall back to 19th - or 21st if he leads the most laps.
That kind of cushion can afford Johnson a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive, but it hasn't made for a stress-free weekend. Johnson has done everything in his power to guard against a letdown.
"I was laying in my bus before qualifying started and I thought, 'Now I remember that pit in my stomach and the butterflies and the heart racing when there is nothing going on,' " Johnson said. "Just sitting around waiting and that stuff takes place.
"The pressure is still there, but the confidence I have from winning the championship last year, and really the roll that we've been on, helps calm a lot of that down, and I have enjoyed this much more than last year's championship battle."
Johnson was a nervous wreck in last year's finale. When the race was red-flagged for nearly eight minutes to clear the track of Juan Pablo Montoya's burning wreck, a mentally fatigued Johnson nodded off in the cockpit of his car.
"I remember the red flag, thinking, 'I wish this thing were over, I wish this race was over,' " Johnson said. "I actually took a nap. I was so mentally spent that I turned the radio down and leaned my head against the headrest and took a little siesta and just tried to separate myself from things.
"When I heard the other cars fire back up, I started up and went on. It was a mentally draining experience."
Johnson finished ninth behind Greg Biffle in the race but won his first championship by 56 points over runner-up Matt Kenseth. Now that he has returned to Homestead as the prohibitive favorite, Johnson's dominance has not gone unnoticed.
"Jimmie, he's impressed me," said Gordon, a four-time champion and winner of 81 career races, compared with 33 for Johnson. "The reason why I suggested him to [car owner] Rick Hendrick is because he impressed me before he was ever in a Cup car. And I really thought if we put him in the kind of car and equipment that I had been in for all the years, that he could have the same type of success that I had.
"And, to me, he has the capability of having more success."
When Ryan Newman, today's outside pole-sitter, was asked about Johnson's hot streak, he gushed with praise and incredulity, saying, "He's on the next step beyond being on a roll now."
A late arrival to the interview room, Johnson broke into a sheepish smile at Newman's words as he stood off to the side of the dais.
"We're really trying to keep a level head with our emotions and what's going on," Johnson said. "It is awkward, like when Ryan was asked that question and to hear that response and the praises that they give us. I accept it and I'm proud of it, but it's awkward to hear that.
"I never thought I'd be in this position. I'm enjoying it and we're trying to make the most of it, but it's new territory for this No. 48 team to experience this."
What was so awkward about allowing others to sing his praises?
"There is nothing comfortable with that," Johnson said. "Even Jeff walking in [to Victory Lane] last week with the flag and all that, I'm like, 'This is really weird.' It's just not something I thrive on or that I expect or that, really, I've ever had in my career."
It stems from the fact that, at almost every step in his career - from motorcycle racing to off-road racing to the quantum leap he made in the Busch Series, where Gordon was first impressed by the perfect line Johnson ran around Darlington's imperfect egg-shaped oval his first time on the track - Johnson has dealt with some skepticism about his abilities.
"Maybe that's part of it," Johnson said. "I've had a long, hard road to get to this spot in my career and had a lot of people doubt me through different parts of my career and had to fight through that criticism. So it's not a familiar or comfortable spot to be in an area of praise.
"I'm not complaining, I'll take it," Johnson added with a laugh. "But I just want to strap my helmet on and go, leave it on the track, come back in, and have a good time."
Maybe then will Johnson allow himself to come to grips with his success.
"I never in my life thought that I would be in this situation," Johnson said. "I had no clue I would be here with 33 wins or whatever, and fighting for a second championship, and being part of this great organization; it is so far above and beyond any goal I've set in my life, and so I'm like, 'All right, what's out there?' "
