said.Now hes back, and his next stop comes Sunday in the city

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Chad Knaus swears his team, and his driver Jimmie Johnson, dont obsess over Johnson potentially earning a record-tying seventh championship.He says they worry about winning the next race, earning Johnsons 80th career victory after No. 79 came Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.But he must not read Johnsons Twitter account. Johnson has no hashtag about the number of wins. But he often puts in his tweets:#Se7enOn Twitter, a person cant add emphasis to a hashtag. But after Sunday, Johnsons #Se7en will take a new meaning over the next three weeks.His Goodys Fast Relief 500 victory propelled him into the true championship conversation as he earned one of the four berths available in the Homestead finale for the eight remaining Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers. Johnson, any Chase drivers who win upcoming events at Texas and Phoenix and then those best in points will fill the remaining four spots.Tying Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty with a record seven career titles would seem a ridiculous notion for Johnson years ago when the off-road racer made a nondescript entrance into NASCAR as a good-but-not-great Xfinity Series driver.Id love to do it, Johnson said. Honestly, just thrilled to have a shot at it. Thats all you can hope for, is just have a shot at it.Johnson never dreamed of winning seven titles. While he did guarantee potential sponsors back in the day he would win in Cup, that was more youthful enthusiasm and not a prediction. But once he was paired with Chad Knaus and put in cars that required his excellent car control, Johnson became unstoppable as he won five titles from 2006-2010 and then another in 2013.Johnson also has enjoyed a ridiculous turnaround in 2016 alone. He had a 15-race stretch where he posted just three top-5 finishes starting in April at Bristol and running through early August at Watkins Glen.Sometimes youre not as good as you look, youre not as bad as you look, team owner Rick Hendrick said. I dont think we were as bad. Now, we were pretty terrible back April, May.We started picking up speed, getting to the front, leading some laps. We could see it coming. ... I felt like we could be at Homestead, but theres no guarantee. There are a whole lot of people in the garage that thought theyd be at Homestead that wont be at Homestead.Hendrick played a role. He spent more time with the team, its engineers, its crew chiefs and its drivers.The turnaround, Im way impressed with, especially from where we came from to where weve ended up, Johnson said. Its one thing to see progress, but to advance and go back to leading a lot of laps and contending for many wins is very, very impressive.We couldnt have done it on our own. It took all four teams, then it took all the departments at Hendrick. Honestly, it took Rick Hendrick showing his commitment. For him to sit in the wind tunnel for a 24?hour shift with all the teams, his commitment. He couldnt help being in that wind tunnel, but his presence there, the message that sent to the organization.Even the win Sunday had its ridiculous moments for Johnson. He seemed surprised when Denny Hamlin slammed into him to make a pass, feeling as if he was racing hard but not worthy of such an aggressive move. The damage, luckily for Johnson, just needed a little bit of fixing.Im puzzled that he had to move me like he did, Johnson said. The inside is a preferred lane. I gave him the inside.I had a little something working on the top. Theres a line of cars behind him. I just cant roll over.Then with about 140 laps to go, Johnson was among four cars that had not pitted during a lengthy green-flag run when Carl Edwards blew a tire and slammed the wall. Struggling to make sure he had enough fuel, Johnson accidentally stalled his car on the backstretch.He realized he had hit the wrong switch, turning off the electronic control unit for the fuel injection system. Johnson lost only three spots because only a few cars remained on the lead lap, and he got the car re-fired before he lost a lap. Somehow his car had enough fuel to make it around for several circuits before NASCAR opened pit road as it tried to get the scoring figured out.Johnson restarted fourth -- his team thought he should have started a little higher, but after nearly 20 minutes and 29 caution laps of NASCAR confusion in its scoring tower, the team didnt have time to create more of a ruckus -- and then owned the final green-flag segment of the race.its unbelievable were here with the trophy, Johnson said. We were parked on the backstretch with a hundred [or so] to go.Thankfully, we had some track position at the time, so the pace car didnt come to me and put me down a lap. That would have been a huge problem for us.It took Johnson 23 laps to motor to the front, where he remained for the final 92 circuits. A hard-charging Brad Keselowski finished second with three frustrated Joe Gibbs Racing drivers -- Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch -- finishing third through fifth.That JGR trio remained ahead of the Chase bubble. The ones currently outside: Joey Logano (ninth), Kevin Harvick (20th), Kurt Busch (22nd) and Edwards (36th).While the JGR and Toyota drivers dominated the regular season, Johnson could now have the last laugh in his Chevrolet.Its not about the numbers, Knaus said. Its not about seven. Its not about tying Dale. Its not about tying Richard. Its not about beating Dale or Richard, beating Jeff [Gordon] for most wins [at Hendrick with 93]. I think you guys miss what were about.We want to go win Texas. You follow me? We want to go win Homestead. We want to go win Phoenix. Then, guess what, in a few months Daytona is rolling around, we want to win that one, too. Thats the way we approach every single race. Its not about what were eclipsing.Knaus can keep saying it, but he will convince few of it. Of course, lets be clear: Johnson doesnt need to win a seventh to cement him in NASCAR history. It only will enhance it.Seven is a number to a lot of people, but to me hes already one of the all-time greats, four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon said after what likely was the last race of his career. I think that number would maybe just solidify that in the history books maybe for some others, and maybe it would be really special to Jimmie personally.Im sure it would. Thats amazing. Seven. Kenrich Williams Pelicans Jersey . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. 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That particular season the late great Harry Caray was calling the White Sox games. OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Dennis Pitta defied the odds and the advice of medical experts with his return to the NFL.Now that the Ravens tight end has proven that two serious hip operations and a two-year layoff wont keep him down, his next objective is to return to the form he displayed during Baltimores Super Bowl run in 2012.Pitta caught three passes for 39 yards on Sunday in a 13-7 victory at home against Buffalo. After the first reception, many of the fans stood and applauded his return.Now its about continuing to get the feel, Pitta said Wednesday. I hope I can improve as the weeks go on.Pitta dislocated and fractured his right hip during training camp in 2013. He played in the final four games that season, but injured the same hip again in September 2014 at Cleveland.At that point, Pitta had to decide whether a second comeback was feasible, or even possible.There were doctors that suggested I should quit, Pitta recalled. There were friends and family -- looking out for my best interest and my health -- who wanted me to just be smart about it.Including Mataya Pitta, who helped convince her husband to return after the initial hip surgery.My wife is still nervous to this day, to watch me out there, Pitta said. She was nervous last Sunday.The 31-year-old Pitta smiled broadly when thinking back to the feeling of facing the Bills.It meant a lot, being able to take the field, running out of the tunnel again, he said. It was something I didnt know if I was going to be able to do. Extremely grateful and humbled to be back on the field with my teammates.One of those teammates, quarterback Joe Flacco, wasnt exactly swept away with emotion over having his good friend as a target again.Not to sound cold or anything, but I really didnt think about it too much, Flacco said. When he caught the pass, the place erupted a little bit and I thought to myself, `I guess that was thee first pass he caught today.dddddddddddd.Flacco and Pitta formed an impressive connection in 2012, teaming for 61 completions and seven touchdowns. That was merely a prelude to the postseason, when Pitta grabbed 14 passes for 163 yards and three scores, including a 1-yard TD in the Ravens 34-31 Super Bowl win over San Francisco.Pitta didnt play in another game until the following December. Before facing the Bills on Sunday, he played in seven games over a three-year span.After failing to get medical clearance last season, Pitta arrived at training camp this year ready to go. Then, during the first week of practice, he got into a scuffle with a teammate and fractured his right middle finger.It was frustrating at the time ... but fortunately, it wasnt an injury that wasnt going to keep me out of the regular season, he said.Now hes back, and his next stop comes Sunday in the city where his previous comeback ended.The last time I played in Cleveland was a pretty big low point. That was probably the lowest, Pitta said. When you dislocate your hip for a second time in that many years, its tough. I didnt know how I would respond, how my body would feel six months down the road, a year down the road.So I was really relying on what the doctors were telling me, which wasnt all that positive, to be honest.Pitta beat the odds. This week, instead of worrying about his hip, hes got the same agenda as most players: to improve each week.Were both talking about, `OK, now heres where we have go from here, coach John Harbaugh said. You move on to the next thing. But when you take a minute and look back on his journey, it makes you feel good about where hes at right now.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '