All-for-won approach: Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson don't get caught up in trying to beat each other--they're too busy beating everyone else.(NASCAR)(National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)

The Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup starts later this month, but the real chase for most of the competitors in NASCAR's premier series is catching up to Hendrick Motorsports, primarily Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

Johnson has had his share of recent problems--engine failures in three consecutive races qualify as a rough patch--but the 232-point lead he had built up heading into the August 8 race at Indianapolis offered enough of a cushion that the team had room for error and experimentation before the final 10 races. You can bet Hendrick Motorsports will be ready at Chase race No. 1, September 19 at New Hampshire.

"Their engine program is really good," says Jimmy Fennig, crew chief for Kurt Busch's No. 97 Roush Racing Ford. "They've hit on something that's working really well, and that's who everyone else in the garage is chasing.

"Everyone hits on something from time to time. It just runs in cycles. There's no magic."

Fennig is right. There is no magic. No secret for success. The technological information is available to anyone who is willing to pay for the data. What sets Hendrick Motorsports apart is the people factor. That starts at the top, with team owner Rick Hendrick, who has the innate ability to choose his captains wisely and provides support that enables employees to reach their full potential.

"The foundation of the organization is strong," says Gordon's crew chief, Robbie Loomis, who recently was talking about the team's cohesiveness over dinner with Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief. "The things we have going on right now, no one else in this garage has going on. The confidence I have in Chad Knaus and the confidence he has in me, we can talk to each other in the heat of the battle, and we know we can work together until the last lap at Homestead to give Mr. Hendrick that championship."

In NASCAR's modern era, Hendrick Motorsports led the charge for multicar stables. In 1986, the organization's third season, HMS fielded two cars. In 1987, HMS aggressively added a third. Although the early years were successful for a start-up organization, talk of a Hendrick dynasty didn't start until Gordon and Terry Labonte became teammates in 1994.