J.J. just about seals third consecutive title with Phoenix win

Remember that door Jimmie Johnson left open for Carl Edwards?

Johnson slammed it shut on Sunday.

With his dominating win in the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500, Johnson all but assured himself of a third consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship.

After stumbling the last two weeks in Atlanta and Texas, Johnson returned to his championship caliber Sunday in the desert and then some, leading a race-high 217 of 313 laps to extend his lead over Edwards to 141 points.

Johnson still has to show up at next week's season finale in Homestead, but he can pretty much go on a Sunday drive and only needs to finish 36th or better before picking up his third consecutive championship trophy.

"Thirty-sixth? Damn, I wanted to only have to start the race," Johnson said after claiming his ninth win of the season Sunday.

The sight of Johnson's No. 48 rolling into Victory Lane during the Chase is a familiar one. Since the Chase debuted in 2004, Johnson has gone on a run not seen in recent NASCAR history. He's won 14 of the 49 races held during the 10-race championship stretch.

Next week J.J. should join Cale Yarborough as the only drivers to win three titles in a row. (AP)

With a cherry on top of that sundae in way of a third consecutive title, Johnson would cement his place among the sport's all-time best.

Even Johnson's fiercest competitors can't help but be impressed by what they are witnessing.

"I'd like to talk about Jimmie," said Sunday's runner-up finisher Kurt Busch, who knows a thing or two about winning titles as the 2003 series champion. "I'm supposed to do the NASCAR thing and talk about my team and my sponsors, but he's doing something pretty special. There was a restart with 94 or something laps to go when he was second behind Jamie McMurray. I was third, and the way that he went high, went low, and he was in the lead before you could snap your fingers, it was unbelievable to watch that type of display, and it's something pretty special.

"To be able to race against him right now, that team, Chad Knaus, Mr. Hendrick, and Jimmie Johnson, that combination is potent. It's the same for all of Hendrick, but it's that extra 10 percent that him and Chad Knaus, it's just tough to beat"

Edwards also tried to say the right thing Sunday after turning in a solid fourth-place finish only to see Johnson increase his lead 35 points when the checkered flag flew.

"It's possible, not real probable, but I guarantee that's not going to change the way we do business. We're going to go to Homestead with everything we've got and be aggressive and try to win the race," Edwards said. "Congratulations to Jimmie and those guys. They're making this really tough. Those guys did a good job and we did the best we could. They're just on it right now."

What makes Johnson's run this year even more impressive is how the No. 48 team had to battle back from an early-season hole.

With the rollout of the new Sprint Cup car for the entire season in 2008, Johnson and Knaus were a bit behind in the development of the COT after spending the prior year concentrating on a second consecutive title.

There were some anxious times in the season's first quarter when Johnson admitted he and his team were lost on how to make the new machine work as well as the old car.

"Truthfully, we had to find a direction," Johnson said. "When we first ramped up our testing procedure, we were just trying to find something to build off of and find that direction to go. With this car, you can get confused and things may show a little hope, but then they don't."

"The clear-cut decision making that we had in the past that either showed speed on the stopwatch or it didn't, it was hard for us to find that clear-cut direction when we started with this car."

But that direction finally came and when it did, so did the victories and success that have been a staple of the 48 team for the last five years.

"This sport always challenges you, I can't tell you how tough this week has been," Johnson said. "It is just emotional regardless of where you are. If you have a big points lead or not."

As has been the case more often than not during Johnson's career, the big point lead is his.