Could Johnson be the greatest we've ever seen? (cont'd)

Of course, much of Johnson's success is due to Knaus, whose proficiency with the current vehicle speaks for itself. They've been together since Johnson moved into the Cup circuit full-time in 2002, and other than a fractious 2005 season that nearby broke them up, have worked together seamlessly. Eight years is a long time for a crew chief and a driver to be together, but Johnson and Knaus show no signs of breaking up. Ray Evernham won three titles with Gordon, and then left to go into team ownership. Knaus once hoped to do the same thing. But the economics of today's NASCAR make that a substantially larger undertaking than it was in 2000, when Evernham went out on his own.

"My initial goals when I first came into the Cup Series were to obviously become a crew chief and win races and win a championship, and then move on to an ownership role. I don't know if I want that now or not," Knaus said. "I think it would be foolish of me to try and think I could be an upstart team and make something like that happen. You almost have to have an affiliation with somebody to do that. I think you look at Tony Stewart and the way he got into Stewart-Haas and how that deal all came together with support from Hendrick Motorsports, that deal will work. To start an outside company would be a pretty lofty goal, and after realizing what we have here at Hendrick Motorsports, I don't know if I ever would want to race against it. It's a pretty amazing place. So I don't know. We'll have to wait and see. But the likelihood is probably slim at this point."

Champion's Week

• Schedule released
• NASCAR Foundation auction
• Tweet2Vegas contest
• Fans can get tickets

Again, Johnson benefits from timing. These days, it just isn't feasible for Knaus to try and follow the Evernham model. The result is that he and Johnson stay together longer, and the strength of that relationship is clearly evident on the race track. NASCAR hasn't seen a crew chief and a driver maintain a relationship this long and successful since the days of Petty and Dale Inman -- and we all know what they achieved together.

No question, there will be obstacles. Eventually, the Gibbs and Roush camps will begin to turn out more consistent race cars, and drivers like Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards will benefit as a result. But Johnson's greatest hurdles may come from within. There's his own organization, for one, which this year produced three legitimate championship contenders -- four, if you include Stewart's affiliated program -- and indeed it appears that the greatest threat to Johnson's dominance may come from within his own shop. There may well come a time in the near future when crewmen on the No. 48 squad are called upon to help rescue a damaged, points-leading car driven by Martin or Gordon, just as mechanics from those teams did after Johnson crashed at Texas two weeks ago.

But the one thing most capable of preventing Johnson from becoming the greatest driver of all time may be Johnson himself. This is a different era of different drivers, men who understandably would rather enjoy the fruits of their labor than wrestle a steering wheel until they're 50. By his own admission, Johnson likes his free time, likes to travel, likes to spend time with his family and his wife. He isn't the type of guy who's going to spend an off weekend driving a sprint car on a dirt track. He rarely competes in the Nationwide Series, doesn't own even a low-level racing team. His competitive edge is always there, simmering beneath his sunglasses, constantly on a slow burn. But if one day he walked away, content and fulfilled and happy, would anyone be surprised?

Not a bit. Granted, there are no signs of that happening anytime soon. But Jimmie Johnson isn't the kind of driver who'll feel compelled to stay in the race car any longer than he wants to. He surely won't need the money, and he damn sure won't become one of those past-their-prime drivers always working the garage looking for another ride. Does he have the chance to become the greatest of all time? Absolutely. Whether he wants to, though, is a question only he can answer.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.