Race report.(rankings of automobile racing)

Byline: Al Pearce

Jeff Gordon virtually conceded the Nextel Cup to teammate Jimmie Johnson moments after the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Gordon finished 10th-his 29th top-10 this year-but as usual lately, it wasn't nearly enough. While he faced reality, Johnson celebrated his fourth consecutive win and his 10th win this year.

Johnson approaches the NASCAR finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with an 86-point advantage. That's not insurmountable, but he and Gordon realize it will take an epic collapse to change anything. "Even if we win it, it'll be because they have troubles,'' Gordon said after another mediocre Chase race. "And while we'll accept it, we don't want it that way. Give credit where it's due: Those guys have flat-out killed everybody. I thought this might be our year again, but it's not.''

Johnson is savvy enough to put those 86 points in perspective. Even if Gordon wins and leads the most laps at Homestead, Johnson needs only to finish 18th. That cushion drops to 19th if he leads a lap and 21st if he leads the most laps. In fact, depending on Gordon's finish, Johnson can win his second consecutive Cup by finishing a dead-last 43rd. "This is a nice, comfortable position, because it takes off some pressure,'' he said. "But we still have to run 400 miles; we still have to run our race and do our thing.''

This championship-clinching streak began last month at Martinsville, where Johnson cut Gordon's 68-point lead to 53. It continued at Atlanta (trimming another 44 points) and Texas, where Johnson went up by 30. And it's not as if Gordon has dogged it. He has won two Chase races and has been in the top five in three others and in the top 10 in eight of the nine. But his fifth-place average finish during the Chase hasn't done him much good.

"On performance, this thing's over,'' said race runner-up Greg Biffle. Johnson and his crew chief, Chad Knaus, "are just so stout. It's hard to run better than they are; they've had everybody covered the whole time.''

Third-place finisher Matt Kenseth added the obvious: "Something will have to happen for [Gordon] to win, like if [John-son] blows up or has a flat tire.''