CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Jimmie Johnsons quest to win a record-tying seventh championship has been burning for nearly three years at Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson wants that title. Chad Knaus wants that title. Rick Hendrick wants that title.Oh, how easy it would be for No. 48 team to coast through the next two weeks, to lk only at the Nov. 20 season finale and the opportunity they have to reach the top of NASCAR.They wont. This is cant stop, wont stop time and these guys are on a mission.And in this year of the ho-hum playoffs, it may be the storybk ending NASCAR needs.Johnson, the most celebrated driver of the last 15 years, won his ninth race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday to lock down a spot in NASCARs final four. He has not been in this position under the elimination format introduced before the 2014 season, when Johnson was still celebrating his sixth title.The drive for (hash)Se7en -- the moniker hes used on Twitter the last two-plus seasons -- sputtered out early the last two years. And even through a long stretch of this season, Johnson hardly seemed to be a legitimate contender as the Hendrick cars struggled to keep pace with Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske and Kevin Harvick.There was a period of 15 races this year where Johnson had just three top-five finishes. Hendrick was far from pleased. The boss sent his cars to the wind tunnel, became a constant sight to his drivers and teams. Everyone turned it up a notch, and Hendrick could see the turnaround coming together.Sometimes youre not as gd as you lk, youre not as bad as you lk, Hendrick said. I dont think we were as bad. Now, we were pretty terrible back April, May. We started picking up speed, getting to the front, leading some laps.I felt like we could be at Homestead, but theres no guarantee. There are a whole lot of people in the garage that thought theyd be at Homestead that wont be at Homestead.Once Johnson won at Charlotte to advance into the third round, the first time he had made it this far in the Chase, he became a sudden lock for Homestead. Hes great at Martinsville, has won the last four November races at Texas, and has an average finish of 7.8 at Phoenix. But he locked his championship spot down in the first race of this segment, and now has the luxury to coast for two weeks.Knaus had yet to wring the champagne out of his firesuit following Sundays victory before he was already contemplating a strategy.We need to now sit back, lk at our car allocation and make sure that were taking the best product that we possibly can to Homestead, he said. When I get to the shop, were going to get together, lk at what it is weve got, we may make a quick decision, maybe make a change.But he cautioned that doesnt mean hell order Johnson to cruise around Texas and Phoenix. It means they are in such gd shape, they can play with the field for two weeks.This is what the No. 48 team does to opponents. It kicks its program into another gear and saps all the energy out of its opponents. Jeff Gordon saw it firsthand in 2007 when he was racing his teammate for the title. When he thought he had Johnson on the ropes, Johnson strung together four consecutive victories in the Chase to put Gordon away.When Johnson grabbed that fourth win, Gordon -- the greatest driver of a generation -- went to victory lane and bowed to his teammate.His strength is in his demeanor, and it absolutely gets under the skin of his opponents. Hes so cl and calm in public, tries always to be a professional. His attempt to extinguish a potential fire with Harvick last year at Chicago led Harvick to punch him in the chest before Johnson had even said a word.When he didnt get out of Denny Hamlins way fast enough Sunday at Martinsville, Hamlin moved him and loudly complained about Johnson on his team radio.Asked about it after the race, Johnson literally laughed out loud.Im puzzled that he had to move me like he did, Johnson said. I just cant roll over. I prefer to race people cleanly. I could have easily taken the easy route and moved him when he came back to take over the lead, and I didnt. I hope that showed him that, `Lk, man, I dont have a beef.Man, Im out there to win. We got points on the line. We got a championship in the line. I got accused of racing hard? Ill take that as a compliment.Johnson has been to Homestead nine times before with a chance to win the title. He delivered six times. The situation will be different this year; all drivers will be even and the highest finisher will claim the title.Johnson hopes to show the next two weeks that hes untouchable and nobody stands a chance in this drive for (hash)Se7en.Scott McTominay Jersey .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. James Wilson Jersey . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. http://www.jerseymanchesterunitedsoccer.com/womens-luke-shaw-manchester-united-jersey/ . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Victor Lindelof Manchester United Jersey . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. Zlatan Ibrahimovic Jersey .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again.GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Marvin Smith sank five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 23 points to lead UNC Greensboro to its sixth-straight win with a 108-56 victory over Division II-member Mars Hill on Monday night.It was UNCGs highest scoring game since a 111-110 double-overtime loss to Chattanga on Jan. 27, 2011.Four other UNC Greensboro players also reached double figures as the Spartans (7-2) shot 63 percent from the field and piled up their largest margin of victory this season.Francis Alonso added 16 points, Demetrius Troy had 12, Mallik Massey 11 and Diante Baldwin 10 for the Spartans, who tk a 58-25 advantage into the break and never trailed.ddddddddddddAfter quickly falling behind 8-0 in the opening minutes, Mars Hill cut the gap to 11-7 with Luke Van-Rijns 3-pointer but couldnt stop the hot-shting Spartans from pulling away.Van-Rijn finished with 14 points for Mars Hill, which played it as an exhibition game. Seventeen Lions played. ' ' '