Question is: Who can step up and catch Johnson?

Last weekend's Amp Energy 500 at Talladega was set up as the make-or-break, wild card race in this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup, and in many ways, it delivered -- but in ways that could hardly have been imagined.

Who'd'a thunk that Carl Edwards would wipe out not just one but TWO of his teammates -- not to mention three other Chase contenders -- when he made a mistake in the draft late in the race (watch video)?

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The least surprising thing about it was that Edwards, as embarrassed as he was, would take blame for creating the exact nightmare he'd gone out of his way to predict coming into the weekend -- and also that some of his competitors, particularly those involved in the melee, as Kevin Harvick was, would make a snide remark about it.

Neither Harvick nor anyone else could say much ill about the tactics of Robby Gordon and Ken Schrader, or even current Chase leader Jimmie Johnson, when some of them fell as many as two laps behind early in the race only to come back for eighth, 16th and ninth place finishes, respectively -- all on the lead lap.

Talladega's effect on the Chase was somewhat profound, as only four Chase drivers finished in the top 10, exactly half as many of the Chase contenders that had finished in the top 10 in each of the playoffs' first two races.

But the intriguing dynamics of the Chase came into play as, following the fourth of 10 races, the top-four drivers are still within 99 points of Johnson.

So let the Chase truly begin.

But I might have bad news for everyone who's not a fan of Johnson's. The last two seasons, this has been Johnson's time, without parallel.

In two seasons, only one driver has managed to come within 100 points of equaling Johnson's output the last six races of the Chase -- his teammate Jeff Gordon last season.

So is it over? It hardly is. It's hard to imagine Johnson coming close to equaling what he's done the last two seasons, when he unleashed torrents of wins and second-place finishes.

But he doesn't have to. He has so soundly handled everyone else in that time that, unless someone really steps up, about all Johnson has to do is perform at his average Chase rate, which is pretty damned good, and he'll be hard to beat. (Continued)