Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, drives during Salute to Veterans Qualifying Fueled by Texas Lottery for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 4, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

FORT WORTH – Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage says that if you are handicapping the field for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at TMS, Jimmie Johnson has to be the hands-on favorite to win.

With his victory at Martinsville Speedway last weekend, the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion clinched the first berth in the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, Nov. 20 and he will attempt to tie NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty with a record seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

“You have to look at Jimmie Johnson as the automatic favorite because he was won six championships,” Gossage said.  “The 48 team is peaking at the right time and they are doing everything they are supposed to do when it counts, especially during the playoffs.”

The AAA Texas 500 race will start at 1 p.m. on Sunday and will broadcast live on NBC.  The AAA Texas 500 race weekend begins Friday at 7:30 p.m. with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Striping Technology 350, followed by the NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

“There is a different feel to this race compared to the April race,” Gossage said.  “The intensity level is high due to the Chase and the level of competition goes up.  As a fan, that’s when it really gets good. You either succeed or fail on a grand scale and either way it is amazing to watch.  As fans we like to see who can rise to the occasion to see who will be the champion or who will sink under the pressure.”

Gossage added, “The addition of the Chase to the XFINITY and Truck Series has added additional excitement to this weekend.  There is a lot on the line and that adds more interest to this weekend’s races.  The pressure is on the drivers in those two series to perform too.  This is definitely an exciting time of year for NASCAR.”

There are seven other Cup drivers who are within striking distance that could win this weekend and challenge Johnson for the championship.  They include Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and his brother Kurt Busch.

“Obviously we want to win more races,” Johnson said.  “If we can have success at Texas, that will only put us in Miami with more confidence and more speed in our car. The work is far from over. There’s one race at the end and it’s winner-take-all. There are no layups.”

Harvick is the only driver still in the Chase field who has not won a Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.  The driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Chevrolet has won five XFINITY Series races and one Truck Series race at TMS but is winless in 27 Cup Series starts.  His best finish was second at both Cup races at TMS in 2015.

“I’d say at Texas you need to have a well-balanced car,” said Harvick, a 35-time Cup winner who has visited Victory Lane at every active track except for Sonoma, Kentucky, Pocono and Texas.  It’s a very fast racetrack, but I think as you look at the bumps and the way that the asphalt has worn out, cars drive pretty tough and become more difficult to drive as you get later in the run. So you need to have a well-balanced racecar to try to make as much speed as possible.”

Harvick’s biggest challenge will be trying to stop Johnson from winning at Texas.  Johnson has won five of the past eight races at TMS, including the last four fall races.

“Just the big takeaway for us over these next two weeks could be momentum,” Johnson said.  “If we can run up front or win again, I mean, that’s just huge momentum for the team. That’s the big thing we have that could work for us going to Homestead.”

Note:  The Loud and Proud Pre-Race Show Fueled by American Ethanol featuring Jake Owen will begin on Sunday at 1 p.m.  The Portacool Post Race Show featuring Jason Borland & The Stragglers will begin 20-30 minutes after the checkered flag.