This was supposed to be the year that Jimmie Johnson got beat. Three consecutive championships on NASCAR's premier series, something only one other man had ever done, was no doubt historic. But four in a row? Let's not get crazy. Not with Carl Edwards coming off a nine-win season. Not with Kyle Busch hitting his prime. Not with competition tightening. There were simply too many obstacles, too many reasons for the law of averages to take its toll.

Johnson's too nice of a guy to say it outright, so his actions said it for him: underestimate the No. 48 team, and they'll eat you alive.

Instead, this became the year when we all learned never to discount a driver who's already put himself on the short list of the best ever to wheel a stock car. Remember that short-sighted preseason media poll that predicted Edwards to win the title? Didn't think so. The end result was Johnson, seizing the sport by the throat, winning his most recent title by his largest point margin, so dominating the Cup tour that by the end of the year his competitors' only hope seemed to be early retirement.

Johnson's too nice of a guy to say it outright, so his actions said it for him: underestimate the No. 48 team, and they'll eat you alive. Don't read too much into a disappointing 31st-place run in the Daytona 500, another struggle at Las Vegas, or continued goose eggs in the win column at Bristol or the road courses. Don't buy into conspiracy theories about tire testing or tolerance warnings. Don't get caught up in the fact that he didn't take the points lead until only six races remained, later than he ever has in this unprecedented run of championships.

Because in the end they're going to be there, and they're going to be better than anybody, just as they were in 2009. After all, so many indicators seemed to point in the same direction -- that the No. 48 team was fallible. Sixth in points after first Richmond! Shortcomings on fuel-mileage tracks! And yet, they won four times in the Chase, weathered the first genuine playoff crisis they'd faced in more than three years with typical aplomb, and ran away with a title that was never really in doubt. The end result was another typical Johnson season, with seven wins at strongholds like Martinsville, Dover, Indianapolis and Fontana, and a finishing kick that left the competition gasping for air.

And in the end, a lesson. Whatever yearning there may be in the grandstands or the media center for a new champion should not get in the way of reality. The No. 48 team is more in tune now than at any other point in its existence. Other teams in the garage area are truly confounded by how to confront the juggernaut before them. Other drivers are in awe of Johnson and what he's done. The distance between him and the rest of the field is wider than it's ever been. Who do you think will be picked to win the championship in the media preseason poll next year?

Doesn't get much better than this: The thrill of victory

Four-in-a-row!

Johnson played it cautious throughout most of the year, publicly talking about the race at hand and not the historical ramifications of a possible unprecedented fourth consecutive title. But when the championship was finally secured at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he let it all out. "History, boys!" he screamed on the radio. "No one ever. Ever!" The previous year, he had tied Cale Yarborough's 30-year-old mark of three consecutive titles. Now, he stood alone, and finally, he could allow himself to enjoy it.

The disappointment still lingers: Off the wall at Texas

Texas destruction

Johnson's run has been defined by almost mistake-free performances that gradually beat down his competition. So how shocking it was at Texas, the third-to-last race of the season, to see him bouncing off the inside wall with serious damage only two laps into the race. The result was a 38th-place finish, his worst in the Chase since Talladega in 2006, and 111 points cut from his lead. Although he won the next week at Phoenix, Johnson fumed about the incident for days. He's probably still fuming about it. Maybe that's one reason he's so hard to beat.

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