Johnson's third title one of second-half success in '08

What else can be said about Jimmie Johnson?

The No. 48 team once again shifted into an untouchable gear when it came Chase time, and once again hoisted the Sprint Cup trophy. His third consecutive championship came 30 years after Cale Yarborough became the first -- and only other -- driver to make it three in a row.

Jimmie Johnson beat Carl Edwards by 69 points for the championship.

But seven victories and a 10.5 average finish didn't come easy, despite how Johnson made it look like he was cruising in the final half of the Chase.

Johnson began the season with four finishes of 13th or worse in the first five races. Following a setback at Bristol, he was 13th in points and the team was scrambling to get its driver back on track with NASCAR's new chassis. It worked -- but for the short-term. He had three consecutive top-fives at three of his best tracks: Martinsville (fourth), Texas (second) and Phoenix (first).

But even the win at Phoenix didn't pull Johnson out of the clutches of mediocrity. Even a night race at Charlotte couldn't put him back into the championship hunt; he had his worst finish of the season, 39th, at Charlotte.

Just when thoughts of Johnson possibly not contending for the title -- or even the Chase -- the team hit on something. And like that, the old Johnson who wins every big race and pulls away when the pressure is on his back.

There was the Indianapolis victory -- while every team managed the tire debacle in 10-lap segments, Johnson's team got him off pit road first during the final round of stops.

There were back-to-back victories leading into the Chase -- a 228-laps-led domination at Fontana, and a grudge match battle with Tony Stewart at Richmond.

There was the Martinsville runaway to make the Chase look like it was his with four to go, and then there was the Phoenix win that virtually locked up the title.

All came during the second half of the season, and all were pieces to the puzzle that allowed Johnson to keep his same reservations at the head table in New York.

Tums QuikPak 500 at Martinsville Speedway -- Johnson already had the points lead entering Martinsville, but nothing was comfortable. He was just 69 points ahead of Jeff Burton after Burton won at Charlotte (Johnson was sixth). But after Martinsville, game over. Johnson led 339 of 504 laps and scorched the field in a victory that was his most impressive of the year. Burton finished 17th and fell to third in points (-152), while Greg Biffle's 12th-place finish was good enough to move him into second in the standings, a distant 149 back of Johnson with just four races to go.

Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway -- Although Johnson started the season slower than normal, even a victory at Phoenix didn't spice things up like expected. The following week at Talladega, Johnson finished 13th and dropped one position to fifth in points. Was it his worst race? Not at all. But it led to his only string of sub-par performances all year. Johnson was 30th the next week at Richmond after major crash damage, 13th at Darlington, and then came the blown engine at Charlotte (his only DNF) and a season-low 39th-place finish. Four consecutive finishes outside the top 10 sent Johnson to ninth in points, 367 behind Kyle Busch. Only one other time the rest of the season did Johnson lose a position in the standings.

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