Edwards: Cup title not over yet

Edwards only made up 15 points on Johnson, despite winning at Atlanta yesterday, following the reigning champion's comeback charge from 11th to second in the last eight laps.

Heading into the final three races of the season, Edwards is 183 points behind Johnson in the Chase - a gap that has never been overcome with so few races left.

Johnson only has to average tenth or better in the next three weeks to win his third consecutive title.

But Edwards says he won't give up until the title is mathematically out of reach and believes his team have already had their fair share of bad luck, while Johnson's haven't.

"If there's one thing this season has shown me, and all of us I guess, is that every time you think you've figured out who is going to be the guy to beat, it can be turned on its head quickly," Edwards said.

"I'm telling you, as long as we're within 130 points going to Homestead or whatever, we're still going there to win the championship and it can happen.

"It would have been hard for me to believe that there would be one guy that had that big a lead right now. But if I had to pick a guy, I'd say it's Jimmie Johnson. Those guys are really consistent, they do their jobs, but they can have the same luck that we've had, that's for sure."

Edwards is currently second in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series standings after winning in both series last weekend. He believes that fighting for the title in the second-tier series doesn't distract him from his main goal and instead helps him get even more motivation ahead of Cup events.

"In a way I think that it's a nice little escape from each of them," Edwards says. "The run yesterday at Memphis was just a blast. I had a really good time and it kind of allowed me to relax a little bit.

"That feeling of accomplishing something on Saturday can sometimes transfer over. I had a little spring in my step today, so I don't think they take away at all. I think they kind of help one another."

Although it is looking increasingly unlikely, mathematics still give Edwards a chance of becoming the first driver in NASCAR history to win both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series title in the same year.