CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- As Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin sat on a stage for NASCAR's annual championship contenders press conference, the differences between them stood in stark relief. One is a 34-year-old native of Southern California, the other a 50-year-old from rural Arkansas. One is a three-time champion of the sport's premier division, the other a four-time runner-up. On the surface, they seem separated by so much more than just the 108 points that stand between them on the race track -- side-by-side, the fresh-faced Johnson and wizened Martin look less like competitors for the Sprint Cup title and more like father and son.

Rick Hendrick might have thought as much, too, until the Hendrick Motorsports founder hired Martin to drive his No. 5 car prior to this season. Then, in a one-on-one meeting with his newest employee, he saw something in Martin's eyes that looked familiar. And it struck him -- strip away the physical differences and the gap in championships, boil it down to the fundamental essence of work ethic and intensity, and Martin and Johnson could be mirror images of one another.

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They are both students of what it takes in the car and outside of the car. And their dedication to excellence, it's remarkable.

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RICK HENDRICK

"I'd say that the thing that is almost identical with these two is the devotion to excellence, not only in what they need to do in the car with the race team, but the way they take care of themselves outside of the car as far as the way they train, the way they eat, and the way they think," Hendrick said Thursday. "They're as close to being identical as any two I've ever been around. They are both students of what it takes in the car and outside of the car. And their dedication to excellence, it's remarkable. Their talent speaks for itself. I think that's the reason that they're sitting where they are today. They just are never satisfied without everything around them being as perfect as it can be. They put all of the load on their shoulders."

So perhaps it's appropriate that Johnson and Martin, polar opposites on the spectrum of career longevity and championship fortune, are the last two men standing in the race for the 2009 title, which will be decided Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Thanks to his victory last week at Phoenix and his subsequent points advantage, Johnson needs only to finish 25th or better to secure a record-breaking fourth consecutive crown. For Johnson to lose, it will take something completely out of the ordinary -- like his third-lap crash at Texas two weeks ago, which sliced 111 points off his advantage.

And clearly still eats at him.

"There is no emotion. It's all business," Johnson said. "It's about showing up [Friday], putting in the best lap I can, driving the car as hard as can I on Saturday, making sure the car is set up right, and doing my job on Sunday. I am not allowing my mind to slip any. It's not that it slipped after Talladega, but it was hard to look at a 184-point lead and have something positive come through my mind. Lap three [at Texas], it was gone. It was like, wow, I'm not going to let that happen again. So it's all business this week."

It's all business for Martin, too; both drivers said they've driven plenty of laps in their head this week in anticipation of Sunday's season finale. That's not surprising given the similarities between the two, who are each known for their devotion to physical fitness, and will occasionally compare notes on workouts or protein supplements. Like most drivers in the garage, Johnson had always respected Martin, knew they both had roots in the American Speed Association. But he never realized how alike they were until the two became teammates.

"Beforehand, I just didn't know enough about Mark," Johnson said. "It's tough when you're not on the same team to know what somebody's about. I've always respected him and had a lot of fond memories of him in the Busch Series. I remember in, I guess, 2004, him standing up in the drivers' meeting and saying some really cool things that I'd never seen a driver do before, and still haven't. So there have been a lot of things I've admired about him, but until I started working with him and talking with him about race cars, and what goes on during the week, and in our team debriefs, that's when I realized, wow, we're more alike than I thought." (Continued)