When it comes to talking about who will win the NHRA Funny Car world championship, Tommy Johnson Jr. seems to get lost in the conservation.

That shouldn’t be the case anymore.

Johnson, appearing in his third final round in a row, beat Ron Capps in the finals Sunday to claim the title at the Dodge Nationals.

Johnson Jr. clocked a 3.895-second time at 330.63 mph to edge Capps’ 3.911-second lap at 324.12 mph at Maple Grove Raceway.

“You want to have a strong start, we knew that going into Charlotte (the first race of the Countdown to the Championship),” said Johnson Jr., who pilots the Make-A-Wish Dodge for Don Schumacher Racing. “We started seventh in points and we would’ve liked to be a little higher and then we went from seventh to fourth and runner-up was a good start and then we went to St. Louis and was runner-up again and went from fourth to second. I said I’d be happy with four more runner-ups if we could do that the rest of the way I think we could win the championship. Then you have Capps in the final, who is leading it, and it’s a must-win. You can’t have another runner-up, you have to gain some ground. I couldn’t be more happy with the first three races in the Countdown to three final rounds and a runner-up, that’s getting it done and that’s what have to keep doing to get done.”

This is Johnson Jr.’s second win of the season as he also won at Bristol, Tenn., (June 19). He now has 13 career NHRA national event wins – 11 in Funny Car and two in Top Fuel.

Johnson arrived in Reading second in the points and he will remain in that position, but he’s only 24 points behind leader Ron Capps. The six-race Countdown to the Championship concludes with races at Dallas (Oct. 13-16), Las Vegas (Oct. 27-30) and Pomona (Nov. 10-13).

“Neither one of us (he or Capps) have won a championship and I think you could see how bad both of us want it,” Johnson Jr. said. “It’s going to be a fight, I can tell that right now. It’s not going to be easy, but if we can continue this consistency then we will be all right.”

Johnson Jr. qualified No. 2 and had consecutive round wins over Cruz Pedregon, Mike Smith, Jack Beckman and Capps, the latter two who are his DSR teammates.

“It was a tough track just because the conditions were so good,” Johnson Jr. said. “The track is so tight and you have to be perfect or it doesn’t make it. You get to the semifinals and you think this is going to be tough. I know what those guys have for equipment and their teams and you know if you’re going to win it, you have to go through the best. We pulled in the water box for the semis and I thought 'I bet the boss is happy.' This is good. This is what we planned to do. We all work together really well. Everybody shares information, if you ask the right question they will tell you and if you’re struggling, they will be there to help you. That’s all great until you get to the semifinals and then it is every team for itself, nobody is cutting you any slack.”