CONCORD, N.C. -- Conventional wisdom states that this Chase is now Jimmie Johnson's to win or to lose.

“

I think Mark is going to give [the 48 team] a run for their money. I think Mark has a tremendous amount of experience. He has a good car, good equipment, a good team, and he is extremely hungry.

”

-- BRIAN VICKERS

But it's his. As three-time defending champion and the current points leader, he owns it heading into Saturday's NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Then again, fellow Chaser Brian Vickers hasn't always operated by conventional wisdom. And Vickers, looking at it from the rear of the Chase field after falling out of contention himself in the first four Chase races, cautioned that it's not over yet.

And he said the one driver he considers the favorite is not Johnson, but Mark Martin, Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammate. Martin currently sits second in the standings, a mere 12 points behind Johnson. Each driver has recorded five wins this season, and they qualified one-two for Saturday's race -- with Johnson winning the pole and Martin sitting on the outside of him on the starting front row.

"I don't know that they're going to run off with the Chase or win a bunch of races," Vickers said of Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet team. "If you're going to look at this year's performance, you'd have to go with Mark on that. Mark Martin has performed extremely well throughout the season.

"I think that obviously the 48 team has the experience. They've been together a long time. Chad and Jimmie are both very talented. They have probably the best experience in the Chase system, winning the last three championships, so nobody is going to bet against them."

Right. Except for maybe Vickers.

While acknowledging that Johnson will be difficult to beat, Vickers said that in his mind it's Martin and the No. 5 Chevrolet team that currently ranks as the class of the Hendrick Motorsports field.

Sound crazy? Well, yes. But hear him out.

"I wouldn't put everything on the table for them. I wouldn't say, 'All in,' on the 48 team," Vickers said. "I don't think it's a given; I don't think anyone knows that it's a done deal. If that was the case, they would just go ahead and hand him the trophy now.

"I think Mark is going to give them a run for their money. I think Mark has a tremendous amount of experience. He has a good car, good equipment, a good team, and he is extremely hungry."

Told of Vickers' comments, Martin smiled and said he certainly appreciated the support. He admitted that he's feeling very confident about the cars the No. 5 team, headed up by crew chief Alan Gustafson, has been able to put on the track especially as of late.

"Well, that's nice that [Vickers] said that," Martin said. "Now we have to go out and do it. Like I've said before, I'm really, really proud of this race team and proud to be a part of this effort. It's really phenomenal what we've been able to do.

"There is no reason other than just the odds that say we can't sustain what we've been doing. We've been doing it long enough and actually gotten stronger in the past 10 or 12 races, based on our experience together."

Vickers pointed out that Martin, at age 50, is exhibiting signs of racing vitality usually associated with the much younger. He figures that will serve Martin well down the stretch in the Chase.

"Everybody focuses on his age," Vickers said. "But it's interesting to see how this unfolded because rarely do you ever see someone in a sport -- in our sport or any other sport -- who is at Mark's experience level or age or whatever you want to call it, the amount of years he's been in this sport, that is still as hungry as he is.

"He still hasn't won a championship. Most guys that make it that long or are still here this long, they have won championships and they're just kind of burned out. They've accomplished their goals; they're done and moving on."

That isn't the case with Martin, Vickers insisted.

"Mark is really, really hungry," he said. "I think Jimmie is going to have a fight on his hands."

Martin said only that he's not about to give up. He also repeated the mantra to which he has held fast throughout the season -- that he's having fun and just wants to drive great race cars and compete to win races. Having already exceeded all the expectations he had about his return to full-time duty after driving part-time the past two seasons, he keeps saying that anything else on top of what he's already accomplished will be a bonus.

That includes possibly winning his first Cup championship.

"There are a lot of things to happen yet," said Martin, grinning. "Punctured tires, accidents ... there are just lots of great stuff to go yet. We haven't even gotten started good in this Chase yet."