The plan is simple: Go for wins and worry about points later.

If the approach seems risky, Gustafson says the driver makes it foolproof.

"I've never seen Mark do anything stupid in a race car," Gustafson said. "It's not a guy you worry about saying, 'OK, we can't whip him because he's going to stick it in the fence.' He's not prone to mistakes. He knows you have to finish to win. Mark's not one of those guys who's going to throw it away battling for a lead on lap 25."

It still might take a mistake by Johnson, the points leader, for Martin to win his first championship. But the veteran seems ready to pounce if his Hendrick Motorsports teammate stumbles over the final two races at Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway as Johnson did last weekend.

When Johnson finished 38th after his No. 48 Chevy crashed on the third lap at Texas Motor Speedway, his lead was chopped by 111 points. Though the 73-point margin still is the second largest with two races remaining since the Chase's 2004 inception (Johnson led by 106 after Texas last season), Martin and Gustafson aren't giving up, and history shows they shouldn't.

In 1990, Martin, a four-time championship runner-up, was on the wrong side of a title surge by Dale Earnhardt, who made up 45 points over the last two races. The biggest comeback with two races left was notched by Alan Kulwicki, who erased an 85-point deficit over the last two races in 1992.

"I've said all along that you can't make predictions, and I still say that it's not over," Martin said in a team release.

More proof lies in the penultimate stop on the schedule. In April, Phoenix was the first of five victories for Martin this season.

"I have no doubt that we'll run strong there again," Martin said. "And there's no reason for me to think that we won't have a strong race in Homestead, either. Performance-wise, this is one of the best teams."

Gustafson said Martin's fourth at Texas (his first top-five in four races) shows "we're going the right way. That may add extra momentum to this team.

"There's no question we can outperform the No. 48 the next two weeks," Gustafson said. "The question is: Will we and by how much?"

Statistics show it still will be tough to derail the three-time defending series champion at Phoenix. Johnson had won three consecutive races on the 1-mile oval before Martin's victory in the spring.

And even with that record, it's unlikely he'll try to protect his lead with a conservative "points racing" method of yielding positions to avoid pressure.

"I've always been a believer of playing offense," Johnson said. "Whenever we have played defense, we've done a miserable job."

Besides, playing offense has its rewards. Even if Martin manages to lead the most laps in winning at Phoenix and Homestead, Johnson still can takes the title by finishing fifth and leading at both.

A four-time championship runner-up, Martin is well aware "we aren't in control of anything" aside from his strategy.

Which still isn't changing.

"We're going to keep doing what we've done every week," he said. "Try to win."

Enlarge By Jason Smith, Getty Images for NASCAR Mark Martin, second in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings, won't be taking a conservative approach Sunday in Arizona or in the season finale.