Why is Jimmie Johnson the favorite to win yet another of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup championships? Because all he has done in this championship-deciding format is produce.

Chew on these series-leading Johnson numbers as the 10-race playoff begins this weekend with the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway:

He has won 14 of the 50 Chase races in the past five years (28 percent).

He has finished in the top five 26 times (52 percent).

His average finish is 8.7.

No surprise then that the Hendrick Motorsports driver is going for a record fourth consecutive title.

Johnson is the only driver to have competed in all six Chases, and no other driver has won half as many races. Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle have won six apiece; Tony Stewart has won four and Jeff Gordon three.

As for top-five finishes, Gordon has 22 and Edwards 20. Johnson is the only driver with an average finish better than 10th.

Of course, Johnson has tried to say the past doesn’t matter now.

“I think (this title) is anybody’s right now,” he said after last weekend’s race at Richmond, Va. "Guys that have been kind of locked in, including Stewart, myself, Jeff, we have been running decent, but maybe not scoring the most points, and so you look at the guys around the bubble.

" Mark ( Martin has) probably been scoring the most points, so I think it’s really tough to give this to anybody and really pick a favorite at this point."

Johnson begins this Chase tied for second place with Stewart, both 10 points behind Martin, whose four wins earned him the top spot.

NHRA starts final six

The NHRA begins its version of the Chase this weekend with the first of six races in the Countdown to 1.

Top Fuel points leader Antron Brown believes it’s time for him to turn up the heat after taking a more conservative approach in the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

“I think you’ll see our crew chiefs Mark ( Oswald ) and Brian ( Corradi ) ** are going to be a little bit more aggressive, and I’m going to be more aggressive myself,” he said. “We are going to attack each round like it was our last round.”

Tony Schumacher , who won the U.S. Nationals, remains the one to beat. He has been Top Fuel’s top dog for five consecutive years and starts this Countdown in third place, 40 points behind Brown.

“I’ve been fortunate to have so many huge bottom-of-the-ninth, full-count moments,” Schumacher said. "You have to understand that it’s a big moment and you have to prepare for it.

“We are down to six immensely huge races and just a number of big moments coming up. So we’ll see how we handle it.”

Meira done till next year

Vitor Meira , who fractured two bones in his lower back during an accident late in this year’s Indianapolis 500, will not return to the IndyCar Series this season as planned. Instead, he will test one of A.J. Foyt Racing’s cars Sept. 30 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

A.J. Foyt said he didn’t have the staff to field two cars for the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He’s committed to Ryan Hunter-Reay , who replaced Meira.

Plus, there’s too much risk in rushing Meira back, Foyt said.

“The more I thought about it, I don’t think having his first race back being at Miami is the best thing for Vitor,” Foyt said. "There’s a lot of risk and not that much to be gained.

“We want to get a good start on 2010 with Vitor and do more testing over the winter, so I think it’s in all of our interests to have him focus on next year.”

Neither Meira nor Foyt is in Japan this weekend. Foyt is recovering from an infection in his leg. Doctors feared he might develop a blood clot on the long flight.