CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- As he sat high on an elevated podium at the swanky Hyatt Regency hotel, Jimmie Johnson looked down on an impressive front row of racing celebrities seated before and below him.

It didn't seem right to Johnson. Despite the fact that he is poised on the precipice of his third consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship -- a feat that has been accomplished only once previously and not for 30 years -- Johnson made it clear that he believed the roles should have been reversed.

Johnson believes that Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Ned Jarrett, Rex White, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace deserve to be raised on the highest platform, the greatest place of honor, in any room he shares with them.

But as Johnson heads into the final race of the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship this Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, needing only to finish 36th or better even if he doesn't lead a single lap and Carl Edwards, his closest pursuer, wins the Ford 400, it's time to start thinking about the big picture.

As in, where does Johnson fit in on the roster of the all-time greats who have graced this sport over the last six decades? If he secures a third championship in a row this Sunday, does he deserve a permanent seat amongst the all-time best?

It is a subject Johnson generally does not like to discuss.

"First, you have to do it. That's why I haven't talked about it," Johnson said. "Two, I don't think I have -- or any driver has -- the right to proclaim their spot in history. That's not for that person to decide. That's for the fan base, for the guys who have been in that club or are accepted in that club. So I don't comment on it because I'm 33 and still racing, and I don't feel like it's my spot to comment on those things. I also feel I have a lot of good years left in the car to really make my mark in the sport.

"If we are fortunate enough to win the championship, I'm sure thoughts and things will come to mind where I will have some comments about what it means to me. But I don't think it's my place to say where I fit in."

Others speak

Leave it to others then. Such as several former champions who were in attendance at Thursday's championship contenders new conference at the Hyatt.

One, Dale Jarrett, has no problem admitting that Johnson already has surpassed him on the career scale. Jarrett drove for parts or all of 24 seasons, made 668 starts, won 32 races and one championship. He reminded everyone, as Johnson did earlier, that the driver of the remarkable No. 48 team for Hendrick Motorsports really is just getting started.

And that's scary for the rest of the Sprint Cup garage.

Johnson has been driving full-time only since 2002, yet he's already won the back-to-back championships in 2006 and 2007, and appears a lock to become the first driver since Cale Yarborough in 1976, '77 and '78, to win the three in a row. Furthermore, Johnson, with seven victories already this year, has amassed 40 wins in just 254 starts.

The lowest Johnson has ever finished in the points standings is fifth, which he has done twice -- in his first full-time Cup season in 2002 and again in 2005. Two other times, he finished second -- including by just eight points to champion Kurt Busch in 2004.

"I can think of just recently, the New England Patriots. When we talk about dynasties, that's exactly what Jimmie and his team are doing here," Dale Jarrett said. "When you think about the New York Yankees, you think about championships. And when you think about Jimmie Johnson's name, you have to think about championships. He's never finished out of the top five. It's just amazing to see what he's accomplished in a short period of time.

"Everybody wants to make the comparisons of the different eras. I think more than comparing it to what Cale did, let's look at the people in our sport that we consider the greatest. And that's Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, with seven championships. But neither one ever won three in a row. That's pretty amazing, what Jimmie and his team have accomplished here."

Ned Jarrett, Dale's father and a two-time champion himself in 1961 and 1965, agreed with his son.

"When you add in the factor of the automobile to the human contribution, that makes it extraordinary, in my opinion, because there's so many things that can happen, so many parts that can break, the chances of getting caught up in wrecks and those sorts of things," Ned Jarrett said. "It's unbelievable, really, that you can get on that kind of a run for that long and keep it going.

"They have the resources they need, and they have used those resources to the best advantage. And they know they've been blessed along the way."

The King's take

Petty, the all-time leader in race victories with 200, has been asked often lately to compare Johnson with Yarborough, against whom Petty competed.

"It's really hard to make comparisons because it's apples and oranges. It's a different era because of the timing, the people involved that raced against one another and all sorts of things," Petty said. "But when you look at the overall picture, just to go have three good years together -- no matter who it is or when it is -- is a heck of an achievement. And a lot of times, it's not the driver and it's not the car and it's not the owner. It's just circumstances beyond anyone's control.

"When Cale came along, he got together with [car owner] Junior Johnson at the perfect time. It was just perfect timing, the way they treated each other and the way they ran the races. ... They were better than the rest of us, and that's why they had the success they had then. Jimmie's team is half a step ahead of everyone else out there right now. And that's not just in one or two races, but over the entire season."

It may be apples and oranges, but three-time champion Waltrip said he thinks what Johnson is about to match in the record books is harder to achieve now than it was back when Yarborough did it. Then again, Waltrip never did really like Yarborough -- so keep that in mind, too.

"There are so many more cars that are fighting for the championship," Waltrip said. "Even though it's come down to two guys for the championship almost every year since I've been around this sport, there are still a lot of good race teams that are trying to compete for the championship.

"In the '70s, there weren't but four or five teams that had a realistic chance at the championship. They had the best equipment, they had the best people. There were cars that weren't even sponsored. Winning three championships back then was a great accomplishment, but this is a greater accomplishment today."

Waltrip argued that the new car being used full-time for the first time this season, and tougher inspection rules in recent years, also enhance Johnson's accomplishment.

"Not only do you have to beat 43 guys, you've got to beat NASCAR, too," Waltrip said. "Do you know how many [inspection] templates we had in 1976? One, and it was the long one that went over the silhouette of the car. And we had a roof measurement and we had a nose measurement. You rolled through and you were ready to go racing.

"It's a totally different time. Parity was not a word in our dictionary in the '70s."

Petty had the final word on the subject among the all-timers on hand Thursday, as he should have.

"As far as where Jimmie goes or where Cale goes in the pecking order, the pecking order comes about over a period of time -- not just over two or three years," Petty said. "Yeah, you're great right now. But in eight or 10 years, they don't know you.

"I mean, Richard Petty done his thing back in the 1960s and '70s. Most of you guys [in the media] weren't even born then. How can you compare what I did against what Earnhardt did, or what Jimmie's doing against what Earnhardt did? It's everybody's speculation."

It's also fun, so everyone no doubt will keep doing it. In the meantime, if Johnson does what is expected of him Sunday, the answer to the question of whether he deserves a seat amongst the all-time greats will be simple.

Jimmie, if you win the title again Sunday, come on down.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.