You hear the term "working the system" and it makes you think of something sinister and seedy.
Sometimes, though, there's absolutely nothing wrong with working the system -- especially if you're Jimmie Johnson and you're in NASCAR's Chase for the Cup.
When there are 10 races to go to determine the championship, Johnson has an uncanny ability to do exactly what he needs to do exactly when he needs to do it.
It's served him well the past three seasons when he won back-to-back-to-back titles, and it's working out pretty well so far in his quest for a four-peat. After winning last Sunday at California he heads home to Charlotte with the points lead, knocking Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin out of the catbird's seat.
To paraphrase a classic line from "Thelma and Louise,'' " ... he has a knack for this stuff."
And his competitors know it.
"Yeah, they have something magical about the final 10 races," Jeff Gordon said. "You know, these 10 tracks really suit them. They do an incredible job. What else can you say? They're the best out there. They've won the last three championships. They're going to be hard to beat for this one. Really, unless they make a mistake, I don't see how they lose it."
Since NASCAR moved to its version of a playoff system in 2004 only two drivers who have won the Chase would've also earned the title under the old scoring system.
In 2005 Tony Stewart had the most points in the Chase and the most "traditional" points, while Johnson did the same a year later in taking his first series crown.
He hasn't lost one since, even though if the old way was still the only way Carl Edwards would be the defending champion and Gordon would be just one title shy of tying Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for most in NASCAR history with seven.
But the old way is gone. And Johnson does the best job of anyone in the sport saving his best for the last 10 battles.
There is still a tight points battle with six Chase events still to go, however, and Kasey Kahne isn't ready to hand Johnson his new robe and scepter yet.
"I'd say it's definitely too early because the points are still too close," Kahne said.
If you just look at the stark numbers, Kahne is correct. All it takes is one DNF, one really bad day or the misfortune of getting caught up in the Big One (Talladega is fast approaching, by the way) to change the points dramatically.
Yet Johnson never seems to get a DNF in the final 10 races. He never has a really bad day. And although Talladega hasn't been overly kind to him, he is usually able to avoid disaster when the track hosts its Chase race.
Of course, Johnson refuses to look too far down the road.
"I don't want to think about those things," he said. "If we are in the hunt come Homestead, come Phoenix, it's going to be the thoughts, the emotions, all of that is going to be so heavy on all of our shoulders that it's going to be a tough grind."
Maybe.
But as long as Johnson works the system
(Contact Scott Adamson of the Anderson Independent-Mail in Anderson, S.C., at adamsonl(at)independentmail.com.)
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