Johnson's run prompts prospect of an early clinch

It all came down to math. They couldn't ignore it, couldn't push it aside, couldn't force it to conform to the limitations of the NASCAR schedule. The numbers were there, plain and obvious, impossible to disregard. So two weeks before the event, the telephone calls and the planning began. They would need a portable stage, of course, and the big wooden trophy, and the thick leather jacket the champion of each season proudly slips into. They would need to delegate track officials and public relations reps and security men, all of them required to manage celebrations going on concurrently on the frontstretch and in Victory Lane. And so the wheels began turning, and the facility formerly known as North Carolina Speedway began bracing for the clinch.

This was 2003, now five years ago, and the last time a champion of NASCAR's premier series clinched the title before the final race of the season. Matt Kenseth had only one race victory that year, but he was the very definition of consistency, and with two events remaining had built a 228-point advantage on Dale Earnhardt Jr. He finished fourth that sunny Sunday in the North Carolina Sand Hills, keeping his margin at 226, and even though a final event remained seven days later, magnums of champagne were sprayed and the trophy was presented and the new champion was all but officially crowned. They went through the whole routine again the next week in Homestead, Fla., even though the race itself was meaningless.

Then came the Chase, a playoff system that resets and narrows point margins between the top drivers for the final 10 races, a procedure that while not specifically designed to prolong the drama until the season's final event, certainly seems inclined to it. And as advertised, the endgame the last four seasons has been played out under a South Florida sunset, the coronation on hold until the last lap of the last race. But now comes Jimmie Johnson, storming toward a third consecutive Cup title like a big cat running down a gimpy gazelle, and blowing up the Chase like he's blown by so many other contenders the past seven weeks.

After his somewhat miraculous runner-up finish last Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Johnson -- who was still trailing at this point in each of his past two championship campaigns -- now holds a 183-point lead on Carl Edwards. No driver in Chase history has ever enjoyed an advantage as big. He now heads to Texas and Phoenix, two racetracks where he's won within the last 12 months. And very soon, the folks at Phoenix International Raceway may be faced with the prospect of laying the groundwork for an unexpected celebration, the first early championship clinch since Kenseth did it at Rockingham five years ago.

• Video: Kenseth says Johnson could win under any format (Continued)