Johnson's Dover success could turn out to be Monster jinx

Are we really ready to engrave Jimmie Johnson's name on this year's Sprint Cup Series championship trophy?

I'm not.

Johnson won last Sunday at Dover in convincing fashion, which started a campaign to call the season over and declare the 48 team the champ.

All this despite the fact we're only two races into the Chase and Johnson isn't even leading the standings.

Now, I can understand the feeling of déjà vu many are having as Johnson puts on one of his patented title runs when the Chase schedule kicks in. We've all seen this movie before and it has ended with Johnson hoisting the trophy in Homestead the last three years.

Johnson certainly has a more than solid shot to make history with a fourth straight title. But this year's Chase field has a little more to it than the past two or three years, and I'm not so sure it's going to be as easy for Johnson to put his name in the record book as some are inclined to believe.

As impressive as Johnson's Dover win was Sunday when he spanked the field, leading 271 of 400 laps, he'll have to overcome a bit of a "Monster Mile" jinx on his way to picking up the crown. No driver has won the fall Dover race and then gone on to take the championship.

Like everyone else, Johnson will also have to deal with the Chase wild card when the series rolls into Talladega in a few weeks. The restrictor plate madness has shaken up the championship picture every year since the Chase's inception. With this year's race pushed back a few weeks, toward the end of the playoff schedule, Talladega is poised to play an even bigger part in determining the outcome.

There are some challenges ahead as Jimmie Johnson tries to hoist the trophy for a fourth straight time. (Getty Images)

Oh, and by the way, Johnson finished 30th in April at Talladega when he was caught up in one of the day's melees.

Johnson's competitors in this year's Chase lineup will also have something to say about his quest for another championship before this is all said and done.

His chief opponent will be Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin, who has come out of the Chase gate fast and furious with a win and a second-place finish. Martin used his four-victory bonus points to take the top seed when the Chase began and has held serve through the first two races. His storybook season has no reason to end and the veteran will battle Johnson all the way down to the wire.

Added to the mix is Juan Pablo Montoya, who played the regular-season points game to perfection and is now showing the kind of aggressive and determined driving he displayed as a successful open-wheel racer. Montoya doesn't look to be going anywhere.

Tony Stewart's domination of the regular season didn't happen by accident. Smoke is still a threat to win a third title, despite his stumbles down the stretch leading into the Chase and mediocre performance to open the playoffs.

Even the driver sitting eighth can't be counted out, as Jeff Gordon tries to make up 122 points over the next eight races. Gordon hasn't won since April, at Texas, but has been as consistent as anyone this year, which as we all know still wins championships under NASCAR's system.

So hold off on anointing Johnson -- or anyone, for that matter -- as the 2009 Sprint Cup champion. There's still nearly two months to go and, if I were you, I wouldn't count on anything just yet.

Garage chatter

• The future of Richard Petty Motorsports took another strange twist this week when primary shareholder George Gillett signed an "exclusive commercial collaboration" agreement for his stake in the team to Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdullah al-Saud, a member of the Saudi Royal Family. The deal centered around the British soccer club Liverpool that Gillett owns a 50 percent stake in, but is said to also include funding to the RPM team, which is currently still working on an intent to merge with Yates Racing.

• Meanwhile, RPM announced that Kasey Kahne, who comes into this week last in the Chase point standings, will use the older Dodge R-5 engine the rest of the way rather than the manufacturer's newer R-6 model, which was in the No. 9 car when it experienced a broken crankshaft at the playoff opener two weeks ago in New Hampshire.

• Goodyear will test a new larger, wider tire at Richmond International Raceway next month as the manufacturer contemplates creating a different product from the current 15-inch tire used in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition. Modifications to the car would have to be made if the new tire is deemed to provide better performance and improved competition.

• David Gilliland will drive the No. 02 Farm Bureau Insurance Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in three Sprint Cup Series races, starting Oct. 17 in Charlotte, and continuing with the Nov. 8 race at Texas Motor Speedway and the Nov. 22 season finale at Homestead Speedway. Wally Brown, JGR's R&D/Test Team crew chief, will serve as crew chief for each of the three races.