With just three races left on the schedule prior to the Dickies 500, Jimmie Johnson could not afford a low finish with the caliber of competition he has chasing him.

After placing a 15th place finish at Texas Motor Speedway, Johnson's lead in the Chase was eroded down to 106 points due to the Carl Edwards win.

“We finished OK,” Johnson stated. “Definitely not the performance we had hoped for. If we didn't get behind on that third run, I think we would have been fine and finished in the top 10, somewhere in the top five, top 10 today.”

Upset with the fact that he was not able to collect a strong finish on Sunday, Johnson noted that finishing a lap down was unacceptable to the two-time Cup champion.

“I'm more frustrated in the fact we didn't do the job we needed to today than the fact that I lost points,” Johnson said. “I mean, if I lose five or 10, 20 points at a time to those guys because they win and I finish fourth or fifth, I can handle that. But to go out there and not perform, get caught a lap down, stuck a lap down all day, that's the part I'm frustrated with.”