A third runners-up finish in as many races helped Jimmie Johnson extend his lead in the Chase for the Nextel Cup at Phoenix International Raceway, edging him closer to a first NASCAR title.

Despite having apparently been down and out in the early stages of the Chase, Johnson's second-half turnaround has propelled him into 63-point lead over Ford rival Matt Kenseth with just the season finale, at Homestead Miami Speedway next weekend, remaining. If the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet finishes twelfth or better in the final race, he will be the 2006 Cup Series champion.

"It's another great day, we did what we needed to do," Johnson said, "If we can just go to Homestead and do it one more time, we'll be very happy."

Asked if he knew how he would approach the final round, the Hendrick Motorsports driver admitted that he was still unsure, but was confident that he would be a factor in Florida.

"We'll find out," he smiled, "I have no idea. I seriously don't have any clue what to expect. I don't have any strategy other than go down and finish ahead of the #17, #8 and #11. It's just that simple. That's all we've done so far through these last few months, so we'll just go down there and do the same thing we've been doing.

"Experience is invaluable. I can't express enough how much experience in this sport has helped me as a driver. It's my fifth year, my fifth time being in a championship situation. We've been under pressure and we've been in this situation, and we are a better, stronger, more mature race team from it. I think the last few months, we've been able to show that and we've been doing a great job.

"I never felt we were out of it. I never conceded, but I just said 'let's go all out, we have nothing to lose, let's just try to finish up by winning races' - just like the #20 has been doing. It's about winning races and that's been our philosophy for the last couple of months."

Johnson spent much of Sunday battling with eventual winner, and now third-place Chase contender, Kevin Harvick, but proved unable to prevent the Reese's Chevy driver from completing a sweep of the Phoenix races this season.

"We had a great battle all day long with the #29, but he had a great car," Johnson admitted, "He was one of the best cars and he did a great job, but being able to run here with Kevin, at one of his best tracks, says a lot about our Lowe's Chevrolet team, so we are real proud.