FACING THE INEVITABLE; Edwards wins Atlanta, as Johnson closes in on the championship.(News)

Byline: AL PEARCE

For one brief, shining moment at Atlanta Motor Speedway, you could almost sense the joy and excitement building among the suits from ABC/ESPN, NASCAR and Homestead-Miami Speedway as they watched two-time and defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson struggle for the first time in this year's Chase for the Championship playoff races. He was a lap down in 30th, and the people longing for a Cup-deciding shootout at Homestead on Nov. 16 briefly had visions of getting one.

Then, as it has done so often, reality struck. Johnson, who had seemed poised to take a major points hit, rallied to finish second behind Carl Edwards in the Pep Boys 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Instead of losing ground to Edwards and Greg Bifflethe only realistic challengers remainingJohnson and crew chief Chad Knaus fattened their lead over second place. So, even though the execs in Bristol, Daytona Beach and Homestead would like to deny it, the No. 48 Chevrolet team virtually clinched its third consecutive title with three races remaining.

The team did so by overcoming a pit-lane speeding penalty that left Johnson outside the top 10 for most of the afternoon. Then Knaus made a great pit call, and Johnson made a spectacular charge to steal second in the final laps. He was 11th (but with fresh tires) on the last restart on lap 318. He almost magically dispatched top-10 runners Casey Mears, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Martin Truex Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and (in the last turn on the last lap) second-running Denny Hamlin. Johnson never got close to Edwards, but considering what might have been, second was almost as good as first.

"That was pretty amazing, Edwards said after his seventh Cup win this season did almost nothing for his title hopes. "I didn't know Jimmie was second until a TV guy told me in victory lane. I'd seen on the scoreboard where he was seventh, eight or ninth most of the second half of the race. I thought the TV guy was joking when he said Jimmie was second. I truly didn't know until I looked at the scoreboard [after the race] that he'd made it all back up.

Edwards and Johnson finished 1-2, with Hamlin, Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, McMurray, David Ragan, Jeff Gordon and Biffle rounding out the top 10. Seven Chasers finished among the top 10, and all 12 Chasers were among the top 20. The only non-Chasers to lead laps were Kurt Busch (12) and Scott Speed (one lap under caution). The second place was Johnson's 13th top-10 in his last 15 starts and his seventh consecutive top-10 in the Chase, five of them top-fives.

"My outlook is better, said Johnson, never one to overstate the obvious. "There are three races left, and our margin is bigger [183 points] than it's been, so that's a step in the right direction. But I can't loosen up until I have that trophy in my hand. I've got to keep my head down and ...