Johnson praises CoT for Richmond rhythm.

The Nextel Cup's most successful driver of the year offer rare praise for the Car of Tomorrow after taking his fourth win of the year, at Richmond, with the new-for-2007 technology.

While stopping short of claiming that the Chevrolet Impala marked the way forward for NASCAR's top division, Jimmie Johnson did admit that having to sort the car had helped him find a decent set-up, not only for Richmond, but possibly other circuits as well.

The #48 Lowe's pilot recorded the ninth win for Chevy in ten races this season, as Richmond was treated to an uncharacteristic 'day race' after Saturday's scheduled floodlit event had been rained out. Headed by Johnson, the 400-lap race saw Impala drivers sweep the top-four finishing spots, with seven of the top ten finishers being Chevy drivers.

Johnson ran near the front for most of the event, taking the lead for good with 20 laps to go. He finished ahead of Hendrick team-mate Kyle Busch, and local favourite Denny Hamlin, while polewinner - and another member of the ultra-successful Hendrick line-up - Jeff Gordon claimed fourth to uphold his points lead.

Johnson's win moves him up to second place in the standings, but the reigning Cup champion admitted that he hadn't expected to be a contender.

"It means the world to me to win here," he said, "We haven't been that strong here, so it reminds me a lot of Indy last year, where we came back and we were able to beat a track that's tough on us. I think this car has been an opportunity for myself and for the team to kind of learn the right set-up, feel the right the rhythm, at this track.

"We were just strong all day long. I think that we certainly had a good car and it was helpful for me to be around the #29, #11, #24 - some of those guys that really know how to get around this race track. In the early parts of the race, I was able to follow them and just find a little bit in each corner and try to help the handling of my car and have the rhythm of the track - that's something that I've been searching for here. I think, once we got to the end, I knew where I needed to be. We had good adjustments that fit with how I was driving the line and the car on the track and it really came together for us."

The Impala SS has now won all four 'new-generation' events this season, with Hendrick Motorsports claiming each of them.

"In some ways, I'm surprised that we've been able to win as many races as we have," Johnson continued, "We've had a lot of great competition from other teams, but we put a lot into the current car, our restrictor plate programmes and also into the Car of Tomorrow.

"So I am surprised to see that, at the end of the day, Hendrick is still at the front and we're taking trophies, but we've had a lot of competition. I think today the #29, #11, #2, #24 were really, really strong, but they had some issues. I know the #2 pitted early, and the #29 had a problem on pit-road, so there's things that have been eliminating people from fighting for the win.

"That's one thing that I've been real proud of my team - our pit-stops just get stronger throughout the day. Chad's amazing with strategy and not getting us into a hole, and we keep making the car better. All the things are building for that finish and we've done a great with that and I think that's why as a whole Hendrick has been getting to victory lane so much. We've been able to close on top of having great cars, but there's been other great cars out there than just the four Hendrick cars.

"We've worked too hard to get to this point, and our biggest job right now is to stay focused and keep advancing our equipment. We're off to a great start but, when you get into the Chase, it's its own animal so, right now, we have to keep our goals in check and that's making the Chase and then racing for a championship. If we keep it simple, we won't over think things and make mistakes."

Asked how excited he was to know that there were five CoT races in the Chase programme, Johnson admitted that he was looking forward to the 'post-season'.

"I forgot all about it," he confessed initially, "I know that the Car of Tomorrow is a big part of our sport now and it's something we need to stay on top of, along with the current car. I'm excited that we're going to have a good mix of those races, but it's so far from now there's no telling what technology is going to come along, what the cars are going to be wanting - there's a lot of variables that can change between now and then. We're doing the right things now. We just need to try to focus in for the next six, seven months to stay on top of things."