“There are two races to go and 30 points can come and go pretty easily. It's not a big margin by any means, but it's better than being second. We have a lot of work ahead of us and are happy to be in a position to race for the championship. With good race tracks coming up for us, good race cars in the line-up and momentum from the victories, our guys are showing up hungry every week trying to get as many points as we can.”

Crew chief Chad Knaus was similarly upbeat about the remaining two outings, but warned against over-complacency as the season reaches fever pitch in Phoenix and Florida later this month.

“It's a great thing,” he enthused. “[Momentum] is a very powerful tool as long as you're able to keep it in check. It can just as much be an enemy as it can be an asset because you'll see guys go out there and they will start to gain momentum, get a little cocky, a little lax and make a mistake.

“Obviously with the way Jimmie has driven the last few weeks it helps, and I think our team does a good job of taking momentum and turning it into a good thing and using it almost like an energiser.”

Team owner Rick Hendrick also admitted there had been times during the race when he had considered telling his charge to back out of the heat of battle, so as not to risk jeapordising his championship ambitions with any kind of risky move.

“I was thinking 'we've got an awful lot at stake here and Jeff was running seventh, we don't need to do this',” Hendrick conceded, “but I felt like Jimmie was under control.

“I think if you ask other drivers in our camp, they will tell you he's a student of the sport; I love to listen to him break the corner down in five sections and when he's running 190mph talk about how the car lands. It's phenomenal, you have no idea, and we're very fortunate. Jimmie just gets better and better.”

What's more, Johnson's victory was also the 25th win of the season for Chevrolet, tying the all-time record set by the Bowtie Brand back in 1958.

“This has been an incredible and exciting year for Chevrolet in NASCAR Nextel Cup competition,” commented Alba Colon, NNCS programme manager for GM Racing. “To score 25 wins in one season is a mark that we at GM Racing and Chevrolet could only have hoped to achieve.

“We are proud of each of our teams and drivers for their efforts this season to achieve this monumental feat. Competition in the NNCS is at an all-time high, and we know the bar will continue to rise.