KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- He isn't even in the current points lead.

Yet.

But with Jimmie Johnson coming off a victory at Dover heading into Sunday's Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway, the perception is that he's bearing down on a fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship. And if he gets No. 4, you know what the next question will be asked of him.

Heck, it's already being asked of him. During a news conference at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., on Wednesday, Johnson sat next to Richard Petty and both men were asked to assess Johnson's chances of matching the record of seven Cup titles jointly held by Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

If he gets to four, could Johnson possibly get to seven?

"Man, seven? I don't think it's possible," Johnson said. "With what Richard did and what Earnhardt Sr. did, I just don't think seven is a number you're going to get to. It is tough.

"When you look at Jeff [Gordon] trying to get his fifth with all of the success he's had, and I think they're safe up there with seven. I'm not saying I don't want to try. But I'm sitting here with three. To get four more would be insane."

It might seem insane to Johnson, but it doesn't seem entirely impossible to Petty.

"It's really hard to say. When I came on, I think my dad [Lee Petty] had won three and maybe someone else had won a couple," Petty said. "Then I started winning a couple and it wound up being seven. Jimmie might win seven in a row. I once won 10 races in a row, so anything is possible.

"There is no record that's ever been set that can't be broke. But as Jimmie has said, it's not likely just because of the competition and just because of circumstances beyond anybody's control. A lot of times it's not the driver that wins or loses championships, it's the car; and then a lot of times, it's the other way around and the driver makes up the difference in the car."

A third, neutral party weighing in on the subject at the news conference was Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc., who has been around promoting races since the beginning of NASCAR. He agreed with Johnson that the record of seven titles isn't likely to be matched by Johnson or anyone else.

"I don't think so. It's more difficult today. Richard was in an era where I saw many times when he arrived at the track and unloaded, he was already a second faster than everybody else," Smith said. "As hard as it is to win one of these races today, I just don't think it's going to happen. If Jimmie lives to be racing when he's 55 or something, he might have a chance. But it would take a long-term effort, and I just don't see it happening."

Smith laughed when he was asked if Johnson being so dominant these days is bad for business in NASCAR, with the theory being that the sport might benefit from someone else winning the Cup at least now and then.

"Oh, I don't think it is. He's a wonderful person. He brings a lot to the sport," Smith said. "I guess he qualifies as Mr. America, as far as I'm concerned. I'm just proud we've got him in this sport and he's not off in maybe some other sport that we don't care that much about."

“

There is no record that's ever been set that can't be broke. But as Jimmie has said, it's not likely just because of the competition and just because of circumstances beyond anybody's control.

”

-- RICHARD PETTY

Earlier, though, Smith joked with Johnson about the legality of the No. 48 car that won at Dover.

"I mean, there's Jimmie, there's Jimmie and there's Jimmie. Gee whiz. What are you gonna do with a guy who makes everybody look bad. Jimmie made everybody look bad this past Sunday," Smith said.

"Where did you get that car, by the way?"

This was prior to the revelation Friday that the No. 48 was indeed pushing the envelope at Dover. After having the car taken back to the NASCAR's Research and Development Center in Concord following the race, officials warned the 48 team for being too close to tolerance limits in several areas.

"I try not to pay attention to what goes on too much," Johnson said Wednesday. "I'm not that smart. I just go in circles and try to come back to the same place."

That place often is Victory Lane, which prompted Smith to add: "I think if he brings the Chevrolet this weekend instead of the Lamborghini he brought last weekend, it shouldn't be too bad. Maybe he's got too much talent. Maybe we should handicap him by tying one hand or something."

Petty did disagree with Smith about it being more difficult to win championships now than when Petty ran.

"I would look at it from the standpoint that I don't know if it's any harder or any easier to win now," Petty said. "The equipment is a little bit better now. When we were running for championships and stuff, the equipment wasn't as good so you had to take care of it a little bit better.

"But it all equals out. He's got to run against what he's got to run against; I had to run against what I had to run against; Earnhardt run against what he did. We were fortunate enough to win ours, and he's been fortunate to win his."

The fact is, even if Johnson wraps up his fourth championship eight weeks from now, he'll still be a long way from the seven-championship threshold. Just ask his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Gordon, who won his fourth title in 2001 and hasn't been able to win No. 5 since despite coming close several times.

"It goes and comes with different times and different people," Petty said. "You look at history and there is always somebody who stands out in a certain period of time. Right now Jimmie is standing out in his time, in this particular time. If you go back five or six years ago, it was Jeff Gordon. You go back a few years before that and it was Earnhardt. Nobody was going to beat Earnhardt; nobody was going to beat Jeff. Now everybody thinks nobody's going to beat Jimmie.

"It's the same circumstances. Competition is no better today than it was then. The equipment might be a little bit better now, but that doesn't make any difference at this particular time."

Johnson said he finds talk about the possibility of his winning seven championships not only premature, but also, well, embarrassing.

"It's somewhat embarrassing to hear, to be honest," Johnson said. "We work hard and do all that we can. But when you're living it day to day in the car and in the garage area, you know that you're an adjustment away from looking like a fool. It just happens. It really can happen to anyone.

"I've been in fast cars at the start of races and we've tuned ourselves right out of it. We've done that a couple of times this year. It's really a very fragile environment that we live in. You try to enjoy the nice things that are said and the trophies you collect, because, again, you're just an adjustment away from looking like a fool."