CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jimmie Johnson is back in the hunt for the Nextel Cup title after being written off after the first round of the Chase for the championship.

Engine troubles and an accident led to a 39th-place finish in the Chase opener, putting Johnson in such a deep hole that even he doubted he could climb back into championship contention. He’d done it the previous two years, but a third frantic rally seemed unlikely.

Yet here he is again.

After last week’s win at Martinsville Speedway, Johnson jumped four spots to third place, 41 points behind leader Matt Kenseth.

“We’ve had the spark and speed and excitement and desire; the fire’s been lit,” Johnson said. “We’ve just unfortunately had some bad luck. Now everything has balanced out, and we’re back in the middle of it.”

Three years ago, in the first season of the Chase, Johnson dropped to ninth in the standings early in the postseason. Then he used three consecutive wins — and four in five races — to make a run at the title. He fell just short, winding up eight points behind champion Kurt Busch in the final standings.

Johnson didn’t fall as far behind last season, when he slipped to sixth following a ho-hum opener. But he was fifth with six to go and needed a win at Charlotte to put himself in contention entering the finale. Alas, a flat tire at Homestead derailed his effort, and Johnson was fifth when it finished.

“Sometimes I think they do better when they are angry and get behind,” teammate Jeff Gordon said of Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team after the New Hampshire trouble. “I look for those guys to be on quite a tear in the next five or six races and try to get themselves back into it.

“Obviously, that isn’t how you want to get your Chase started ... but we have seen Jimmie do it before.”

Can he do it yet again? The competition certainly thinks he’s capable.

“I know it’s going to be tough to beat the 48,” Kenseth said. “He’s been so close the last few years, and he’s the only one of us able to click off wins like they are nothing.”

Next up is Atlanta, one of the places where Johnson won during the 2004 Chase. He’s almost always good there, with six top 10s in 10 career starts. Four of those finishes were inside the top four.

He certainly won’t lack confidence when the green flag falls Sunday. Much of that comes from the team’s leadership — team owner Rick Hendrick and even Robert Niblock, the chairman of Lowe’s, Johnson’s primary sponsor.

“We have great leadership through Rick Hendrick and Lowe’s and the way they support our race team — they really handle things differently than anyone else,” Johnson said. “They are in the shop cheering people up. Robert Niblock is in (the shop) personally talking to the guys and spending time with them.

“All of that helps the attitude.”

Running well helps, too.

“We’ve been competitive. We’ve been fast,” he said. “What we can control and what we can do and where we know we were running is what we sleep on at night. We know we’ve been competitive through it all.

“So no one has been down and out — even from the disaster in New Hampshire. We all left there with smiles on our faces. We didn’t like the situation, but we knew we were fine. And we were happy with how we were performing.”

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Chase Capsules

DRIVER: Matt Kenseth

TEAM: Roush Racing

CAR: No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford

CHASE POINTS: First, 5,848

POSITION CHANGE: Plus 1

WHAT HAPPENED: Kenseth moved back into the points lead for the first time since it started. He landed there based on others’ problems, not because he earned it with his 11th-place finish.

SPEAKING: “Everyone has had trouble in the Chase. I think the reason we’re on top right now is because we’ve had less trouble than the rest. But, it’s going to take more than that to win this thing,” he said.

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DRIVER: Kevin Harvick

TEAM: Richard Childress Racing

CAR: No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet

CHASE POINTS: Second, -36

POSITION CHANGE: Plus 1

WHAT HAPPENED: Harvick finished ninth at Martinsville despite an early flat tire, a later tire rub and having to switch to his backup ignition.

SPEAKING: “We’ve always seemed to have decent finishes in the end, but it’s been a lot of drama in between. We feel good about the position that we’re in. We’re excited about going to Atlanta and looking forward to the weekend,” Harvick said.

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DRIVER: Jimmie Johnson

TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports

CAR: No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet

CHASE POINTS: Third, -43

POSITION CHANGE: Plus 4

WHAT HAPPENED: Johnson won at Martinsville, notching the biggest points jump among Chase drivers. Now he must sustain the momentum to keep his title hopes rolling.

SPEAKING: “It’s anybody’s championship. Any team is still capable of winning the championship. The points are really close right now, so there can be a lot of moving and shaking. I don’t think anybody is going to sleep well these next four races,” Johnson said.

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DRIVER: Denny Hamlin

TEAM: Joe Gibbs Racing

CAR: No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet

CHASE POINTS: Fourth, -47

POSITION CHANGE: Plus 2

WHAT HAPPENED: Hamlin lost a cylinder yet still positioned himself to race for the win. He could have — and maybe should have — wrecked Johnson in the closing laps for the victory, but he raced him cleanly and settled for second.

SPEAKING: “I really feel that we are back in it, but I think any driver in this Chase will tell you that you are only as good as your last race. It’s very close, so anything other than a great race can take a toll on you,” Hamlin said.

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DRIVER: Jeff Burton

TEAM: Richard Childress Racing

CAR: No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet

CHASE POINTS: Fifth, -48

POSITION CHANGE: Minus 4

WHAT HAPPENED: Burton finally had a major case of bad luck, blowing an engine and finishing 42nd. Afterward, he called his team to his hauler for a closed-door pep talk.

SPEAKING: “These things happen. Everybody has had an issue in the Chase, and we had ours. But this team is really tough and resilient,” Burton said.

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DRIVER: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

TEAM: Dale Earnhardt Inc.

CAR: No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet

CHASE POINTS: Sixth, -94

POSITION CHANGE: Minus 1

WHAT HAPPENED: Earnhardt was poised to make a big jump in the standings but spun very late in the race and wound up 22nd.

SPEAKING: “That was my mistake. I was trying too hard. A win at Atlanta would really help the healing process. After a disappointing race like we just had, I can’t think of a better track to regain our momentum than Atlanta,” Earnhardt said.

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DRIVER: Mark Martin

TEAM: Roush Racing

CAR: No. 6 AAA Ford

CHASE POINTS: Seventh, -96

POSITION CHANGE: Minus 3

WHAT HAPPENED: Martin got a hole in his radiator, spent most of the race outside the top 15 and wound up 24th to lose three spots in the standings.

SPEAKING: “We’ve had really good cars the last couple of weeks and pretty bad luck. This weekend we need to get the best finish we can, so we can stay within striking distance in the points. There is still a lot of racing left, and we haven’t given up yet,” Martin said.

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DRIVER: Kasey Kahne

TEAM: Evernham Motorsports

CAR: No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge

CHASE POINTS: Eighth, -99

POSITION CHANGE: None

WHAT HAPPENED: Kahne finished seventh at Martinsville, his third-straight top 10, to pull within 99 points of the leader.

SPEAKING: “A lot of guys are back in it now. It’s going to be pretty exciting to the end. We’ve got four to go, and we’re just going to try to keep making up points every weekend and try to go win Atlanta,” Kahne said.

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DRIVER: Jeff Gordon

TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports

CAR: No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet

CHASE POINTS: Ninth, -141

POSITION CHANGE: Plus 1

WHAT HAPPENED: Gordon finished fifth. At 141 points out, he doesn’t consider himself a legitimate title contender.

SPEAKING: “We’re only 141 out of the lead, which is manageable. What’s tough is the fact there are eight guys ahead of us in the standings, and it will be difficult to leapfrog them with only four races remaining. We can’t control what they do, so we’ll just focus on trying to win races,” Gordon said.

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DRIVER: Kyle Busch

TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports

CAR: No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet

CHASE POINTS: 10th, -171

POSITION CHANGE: Minus 1

WHAT HAPPENED: Busch ran in the top 10 most of the day at Martinsville but was caught in a very late accident with David Ragan to finish 18th.

SPEAKING: “We’ve just struggled on luck and not having any. So we need to try and turn that around,” Busch said.