AVONDALE, Ariz. -- The El Cajon posse was out in force.

They gathered around the No. 48 pit box at the far end of Phoenix International Raceway's pit road, friends and family and wives and girlfriends and assorted hangers-on. Throw in the Hendrick Motorsports executives and the occasional television cameraman, and you had easily more than 30 people milling around the big war wagon, not even counting the guys in firesuits there to do a job. There were so many people, the No. 48 team brought along an aluminum bench so some could sit down. The regular metal barrier used to separate team-only areas from the open part of pit road wasn't enough to contain them all. So a metal chain, painted of course in Lowe's blue, was strung up. It was like a velvet rope at the hippest Las Vegas nightclub. Only the invited got past.

They were all there to see Jimmie Johnson take another large step toward history, which he did Sunday by leading 217 laps to dominate the quirky 1-mile racetrack at the base of the Estrella Mountains. He needed to increase his points lead to 162 over Carl Edwards to effectively clinch his third consecutive championship on NASCAR's top division, something no one has accomplished since Cale Yarborough did it 30 years ago. He nearly got there. He holds a 141-point margin over Edwards heading to next weekend's season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he can coast to a 36th-place finish and still win it all. The entire season, he's finished 36th or lower just once -- in May, at Lowe's Motor Speedway. And that was because his engine blew up.

So the celebration began in earnest Sunday in the desert, where Johnson became the first driver to win three consecutive races and set the stage for an even bigger three-peat in seven days. All the star power that El Cajon, Calif., could muster was on display -- native son Johnson, his former high-school pals turned pro baseball players Marcus and Brian Giles, and major-league pitcher Mike Hampton. They were part of a throng that hooted and high-fived as Johnson ran away in the green-white-checkered finish, that watched the No. 48 crew spray champagne in a Victory Lane (watch video) flanked by saguaro cactus, that could very well be in attendance next weekend in South Florida to watch their old buddy finish the deal.

"I usually have a big group when I come close to home, and a bunch of friends from El Cajon came out. We'll be getting crazy [Sunday] night, for sure. So I look forward to that," Johnson said with a smile. "Just friends of mine who play baseball who are based here in the Phoenix area in the offseason. It works out to be a fun race, and I try to spend a couple of days before or after and visit everyone. And I'm sure with what's on the line, everybody was interested in showing up [Sunday]. And I'm sure next week we'll have a lot of requests for passes and things as well."

Next week will be a formality, when -- barring abject, unthinkable disaster -- Johnson will stand on another big stage amid a flutter of confetti, receive another sterling silver trophy, and make room in his bank account for another check worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 million. The record will show that Johnson secured his third consecutive title in Homestead. But in actuality the clincher was Phoenix, where the No. 48 team rebounded from their worst Chase showing in more than two years to turn in the kind of commanding performance for which they're known. They exuded confidence in every way, from the size of the entourage, from Johnson's comments on Friday that he was here to take the trophy and maximize his points gain, to the fist pound crew chief Chad Knaus traded with Johnson's wife, Chandra, right before the race. (Continued)