Johnson keeps his focus on prize that matters most (cont'd)

"That's not a leap," Edwards conceded. "I've thought about that. No, I don't think so. Here's how it works: You're winning, you're doing well, everybody looks at everything you're doing and says, man, that's what you have to do to win, right? That's it. If you're not winning, they look at everything you're doing and say, ah, he's distracted. When Tony Stewart does well, that guy owns one of everything and does everything. When he's running well they say, that's what it takes. I think it's cool, though, that you have all different guys. Jimmie does his thing the way he does it. I live in Missouri, and last year that's what everybody says you have to do, you have to move away. Tony does his things, guys have ownership in teams, and all of us are able to be successful at times with it. Obviously not to Jimmie's level."

“

He works harder than anyone that I have seen from studying this sport, to making notes after every race, to reviewing notes before, to nutrition, to physical fitness, to commitment to the sport.

”

-- MARK MARTIN

That's the catch. Edwards does have a valid point -- when Stewart won his second title in 2005, much was made over the relative serenity he had found by moving back home to Columbus, Ind. And Stewart has established himself as a perennial championship contender despite his penchant for racing anything, anytime, and car ownership that has gradually expanded from the U.S. Auto Club to NASCAR's upper levels.

But not even Stewart has been able to approach Johnson's feats of the past four seasons, a stretch that has rewritten NASCAR history. Even Edwards, who is running the full Nationwide schedule this season in addition to his Cup duties, will admit that Johnson's success has made him reconsider doing both. "Oh yeah. I've thought about it," he said. "With this Nationwide thing, that's the guy I look at. Him and Jeff in particular, those guys, they run the Cup races and that's it, and they're successful. But I look at it in the vein of, it won't diminish my success."

These days, though, it doesn't necessarily help, either. When Edwards first broke into Cup racing, he felt his Nationwide involvement helped him progress two years for every one he competed in. But the cars are now vastly different, and very little translates from one side to the other. Johnson has run a total of 10 Nationwide events throughout the course of his four-year championship reign.

"Bottom line, you want to know why those guys are running Nationwide races? For money," Gordon said. "They're wanting extra money. The sponsors are there supporting the car owners to run the series, and those guys are able to make extra money. That's why they run it. And somebody like Kyle [Busch], who has an opportunity to win a championship, or Carl, hey, why not do that, too?

"But the Cup drivers that are over there, that's why they're doing it. Jimmie is a well-paid driver, and I think that he sees the benefits of not being over there. I don't know if he looked at the way I did it or not, and he still runs sometimes, but these days those cars are so much different. Maybe next year when they go to that new car, whenever they go to the new car, when the cars are more similar, maybe you'll see it benefitting more guys on Sundays."

Right now, though, that doesn't appear to be the case. The Nationwide tour and the ownership ranks continue to swell with Cup drivers whose passion for the sport has led them to explore competitive options beyond Sunday afternoons. And meanwhile Johnson continues to sharpen his focus, and keep his eyes on the one prize that matters most.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.