With three titles, no telling how far Johnson can go (cont'd)

Enough of the complaints about his personality, or perceived lack thereof. Enough of this canard that he's a product of the Chase. Enough of the conspiracy theories that crew chief Chad Knaus, finishing a season that's been free of suspension, has the No. 48 car cheated up to win. As one of only eight drivers to win three or more titles on NASCAR's premier series -- under various points systems, dating back to Lee Petty's first crown in 1954 -- Johnson's achievements of the past three years have clearly put him in the conversation when debating the best ever. The only remaining question is, how high can he go?

“

With the team that we've got, the resources we've got with Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet behind us, we can definitely go and bid for four championships in a row.

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CHAD KNAUS

"I don't know how you can doubt the talent that he's got and the competitiveness of the sport and the things he does in the car, the coolness and the communication and the way he describes the chassis and works with Chad," car owner Rick Hendrick said. "I don't think he's gotten the respect he's deserved, and I think this is kind of serving notice, what he's really done to win three of these in a row. When you go back to '04, and since he's stepped into the series, what he's accomplished, his record speaks for itself. I'm just glad I don't have to race against him."

Knaus, like Hendrick admittedly biased, was more succinct. "In my eyes, he's the best there's ever been," said the crew chief, a member of Gordon's team during the Rainbow Warrior glory years. "People are going to say, 'Oh, Richard Petty is, or Jeff Gordon is, Dale Earnhardt and all those guys.' But with the competition level the way it is today, with what you've got to do working in racing day in and day out, no time to take any time off, in my mind he is the best."

Admittedly, seven championships in this generation of NASCAR, where periods of dominance can wax and wane with astonishing swiftness -- remember when nobody could beat Dale Earnhardt Inc. on restrictor-plate tracks? -- may be more a fantasy than a realistic goal. Evolving rules, technology, and team alignments serve as inherent deterrents to the kind of prolonged supremacy Johnson and the No. 48 team have shown since they first broke through in 2006. In a high-stress, high-reward sport, it's only natural for relationships to be tested or one member of an organization to want to strike out on his own. Gordon has been there; his era of invincibility, three championships between 1995 and '98, was curtailed when crew chief Ray Evernham left to become a team owner.

"Egos get in the way. A lot of things can go wrong," Gordon said. "I've always said I watched this 48 team, how fast they were competitive, how quick they were able to be a championship contender. And even though they did lose a couple, when they won that first one, because of how strong they were leading up to that one, I knew these guys were going to be tough to beat for a championship for a long time. They know how to win the championship, they know how to win races. They're the complete package, and Hendrick Motorsports plays a big part in that. In Jimmie's ability and Chad's communication and his skills, they have it all. As long as they continue to work together the way they are -- and not every day is pretty -- but they know how to get the results at the end of the day. If they don't let anything get in the way of that, there is no telling how many they can win."

Another potential hurdle is complacency, something that on Sunday night was hard to find. Johnson sounded ready to start the Daytona 500 on Monday. Knaus, who said on Friday that he thought the 48 bunch had "at least three, four years left in us as a team," seemed ready to chase another ring. (Continued)