Edwards is Johnson's best competition for future titles

When he left Martinsville Speedway two Sundays ago, Carl Edwards insisted that he was not finished with his pursuit of Jimmie Johnson in the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

"If we have to win the next four races in a row to catch him, well, then that's what we'll have to do," Edwards said.

The problem is, as Edwards learned after winning Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, that still may not be good enough. Edwards did his part by winning, but Johnson finished second and actually increased his overall advantage in the standings heading into the final three Chase races.

Johnson's lead is now 183 points over Edwards, his closest pursuer. But even though Edwards gained ground (he was 198 down and fourth in the standings prior to the race), Johnson actually increased his overall lead because Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton fell even further back after being 149 and 152 points, respectively, off the No. 48 team's pace coming in.

While Johnson showed again at Atlanta why he and crew chief Chad Knaus are closing in on their third consecutive championship, the victory by Edwards -- his seventh of the Cup season -- invites a closer look at the bigger picture.

This season, despite continued but increasingly muted protests from Edwards and one or two others, belongs to Johnson. But what about next season and beyond?

Edwards' win Sunday was his 14th since 2005. Only Johnson, with the amazing and admittedly intimidating total of 25 (six this season), has more over the same time span.

Is it time to anoint Cousin Carl as Jammin' Jimmie's greatest threat for the immediate future as it pertains to after this season?

There are others
Tony Stewart also has 14 Cup victories since 2005, but only one this season and just four in the last two seasons. Plus, at age 37, he'll be starting up his own team at Stewart-Haas Racing next season -- and the wins might come even slower than he has been reluctantly growing accustomed to this season.

The next greatest threat to Johnson's superiority -- in addition to Edwards, that is -- probably is Kyle Busch. Sure, his 2008 Chase has been miserable. But he still owns a series-high eight victories and has proven throughout the season on all three major NASCAR circuits that he knows how to consistently drive himself to Victory Lane.

Busch and aging lion Jeff Gordon (geez, who thought we would be calling him that after he won six races and finished second to Johnson only a year ago?) have each won 12 races since 2005. But Gordon has not won at all this season and, also at age 37, obviously does not have the comfort level with the current "new car" that younger drivers such as Johnson, Edwards and Busch do. (Continued)