But Hendrick won't be found gloating Sunday at Martinsville Speedway— that is, if he makes the trek to southwest Virginia at all. He sometimes has skipped the October event because attending is too painful.

"I still have days that I can go to Martinsville for the spring race and I'm fine," Hendrick said a few weeks ago after a screening of Together, a documentary about the quarter-century history of his powerhouse team. "The fall race, I fly in there and there are times I ask, 'Why do you keep doing this?' "

While the 0.526-mile track is the site of the team's inaugural win 25 years ago (in the eighth race of its debut 1984 season), Martinsville also is associated with its darkest hour.

It's been five years short of a day since a Hendrick Motorsports turboprop, on the way to Martinsville, slammed into Bull Mountain in Patrick Springs, Va., permanently severing links to the team's past, present and future. Among the 10 killed Oct. 24, 2004, were Randy Dorton, head engine builder and one of the team's first employees; John Hendrick, team president; Jeff Turner, general manager; and Ricky Hendrick, heir apparent to succeed his father as the team's CEO.

Rick Hendrick, who would have been on the plane if not for an illness, returned to the team's Concord, N.C., headquarters a few weeks later and rallied crewmembers with an emotional speech.

"I couldn't turn my back on the people left," he said. "That was the way to honor the people I lost."

Team management was restructured in the offseason after the crash, and Hendrick emerged stronger. Johnson, who has won three of the first five Chase races, is a favorite to become the first driver to win four championships in a row. He has won five of the past six races at Martinsville, and another would mark Hendrick's 19th there, more than at any other track.

That would be worth celebrating.

"We've been blessed," Hendrick said. "I'm just so proud of this whole company."

Waltrip cited:

Michael Waltrip was cited for failing to yield in a traffic accident with a motorcyclist in Mooresville, N.C., that left Waltrip unhurt and sent the rider to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries, SceneDaily.com reported.

Enlarge By Terry Renna, AP Jimmie Johnson, pitting Saturday, and two other Hendrick Motorsports drivers sit atop the Sprint Cup standings.