Johnson learns from previous years

The Nextel Cup championship leader has come close to winning the title in the past two years, and he only needs to finish 12th or better to guarantee the title.

"I don't have any bad feelings from any of the years that we've been close and didn't deliver," he said.

"We're just learning from those experiences to become a better, stronger race team."

Johnson has finished in the top two for the past five races, and he plans to keep doing the same despite having so much at stake.

"I don't know what to expect," he said. "I don't have any strategy other than to finish ahead of everyone.

"That's all we've done for these past few months so we'll go to Homestead and do the same thing there."

Johnson leads 2003 champion Matt Kenseth by 63 points. Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin are 90 points behind, while Dale Earnhardt Jr is still in the hunt, but he is 115 points back.