Johnson keeps pedal to metal

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Maybe it really is over.

Five days after Jeff Gordon virtually conceded the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship to teammate Jimmie Johnson ahead of Sunday’s season finale, Johnson won the pole position for the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Johnson has won four consecutive races and holds an 86-point lead over Gordon in the title chase. Johnson needs only to finish 18th or better to win his second straight Cup, regardless of how Gordon finishes.

Taking a first step in that direction, Johnson ran a qualifying lap of 176.788 mph on the 1.5-mile oval Friday to claim the first starting spot for his No. 48 Chevrolet.

Ryan Newman of Penske Racing South qualified second in the 43-car field at 176.569 mph in a Dodge and will start outside Johnson on the front row Sunday.

Gordon starts 13th in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevy.

Johnson, who has 10 wins this season, said he mainly wanted to ease his pre-race jitters by getting qualifying out of the way.

“I can’t tell you how much just getting in the race car helped today,” he said. “I’m very happy to cross Friday off the list, get a good night’s sleep tonight, do it again tomorrow. It’s just going our way.”

Newman marveled at Johnson’s recent performance.

“I really didn’t expect Jimmie to come out and bust that [qualifying] lap,” Newman said. “He’s on the next step beyond on-a-roll.”

Gordon made his title concession, saying “it’s over,” after Johnson won last Sunday in Phoenix. “Unless a miracle happens we’re not going to win it,” Gordon reiterated Friday.

“We’re not going to give up,” he said, but added: “We also know the only way we can win . . . is if Jimmie has a problem.”

Johnson said the worst thing he can do is race defensively.

“I really feel that if we try to do anything different, we’re going to make mistakes,” Johnson said. And he didn’t rule out winning his fifth consecutive race, which would tie a mark last set by Richard Petty in 1971.

Ray Evernham, who was Gordon’s crew chief for 47 wins and three championships in the 1990s, said Gordon still has a chance. “I know Jeff, you can’t bet against him,” said Evernham, now co-owner of Gillett Evernham Motorsports. “But it’s going to be tough to beat [Johnson] with the roll they’re on.”

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The Cup series will use its conventional car for the last time Sunday, with the new Car of Tomorrow -- which was used in 16 races this year -- becoming mandatory in 2008.

The Car of Tomorrow is a safer, boxier stock car with a rear wing that also leaves less room for manipulation by teams than the current car.

Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, said he was sorry to see the old car go. Knaus, known as one of NASCAR’s most aggressive crew chiefs, was suspended twice in the past two years for making illegal modifications to the car to gain extra speed.

“I’m real sad, actually,” Knaus said. The Car of Tomorrow, he added, “takes a little bit of our creativity away.”

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james.peltz@latimes.com