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.

“

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."

Those similarities are not always easy to see, given the clear and obvious differences between the two drivers, but look hard enough and they become evident. Johnson was his usual talkative and accommodating self on Thursday, when NASCAR held its opening event of championship weekend at a Coral Gables hotel. Put him in a firesuit and a pair of sunglasses, though, and he becomes the very picture of focus. Martin's eyes burn with intensity, inside the car or out. Both seem to carry the slightest of chips, Johnson a desire to prove to all doubters that he is in every way deserving of the titles he's won, Martin a belief that he must simply outwork peers he views as more talented.

But in his teammate, Martin may have met his match. "I think Jimmie may have one-upped me just a tad, and I haven't seen much of that in my time," Martin said. "He may have even more of that. A lot of the success I've had in my career came because I think I worked harder, and wasn't because I was better. I believe Jimmie works harder at it than I do, and I'm working about as hard as I can."

“

A lot of the success I've had in my career came because I think I worked harder, and wasn't because I was better. I believe Jimmie works harder at it than I do, and I'm working about as hard as I can.

”

MARK MARTIN

Sunday night will likely provide another instance of separation, another of those moments when all Johnson's triumphs and all Martin's shortfalls appear in sharp contrast to one another. But until then, Johnson is doing all he can to avoid the presumption of history, going so far as to shun reports about the final race on television and in newspapers, working out like crazy to take his mind off the Chase endgame and help himself get some sleep. That fourth title seems inevitable to everyone but the three-time defending champion, who is taking nothing for granted, and on Thursday was so bunkered down mentally that he wasn't even sure of the length of the Homestead track.

"It's just another mile-and-a-half track, or two-mile. What is it? Something like that. Details," he said with a laugh.

And yet, the big-picture talk is out there, whether Johnson likes it or not. "They could win several more in a row," said Miami native and former NASCAR champion Bobby Allison, on hand for Thursday's event, in a reference to Johnson and his No. 48 team. This former off-road racer and virtual unknown from El Cajon, Calif., is on the verge of further distancing himself not only from Martin, but every other driver in NASCAR. One 25th-place run Sunday afternoon will cement Johnson's status as a legend well before his 40th birthday.

There are some, and rightfully so, who believe that Martin belongs in that class, too. After all, his 40 career victories, likely five runner-up finishes, and ability to remain competitive into his sixth decade more than speak for themselves. One of the few who would disagree with that? Martin himself.

"My record does not stand up against the greats in this business," he said flatly. "... I'm the worker. I'm the guy that rolls up my sleeves ... I work real hard and try to win the game, whatever it is, fair and square."

With that, Johnson had heard enough. With work still to be done this season, he wasn't ready to discuss his own place in history. But he was more than willing to vouch for his teammate's.

"He's too humble of a man, and doesn't understand what he's done in this sport, for this sport, how many young guys have respected what he's done," Johnson said. And then he turned and spoke to Martin directly.

"You mentioned earlier how we weren't around each other for me to look at your style and want to drive like you. But coming up through ASA, everybody knew who Mark Martin was. I aspired at that time to have people speak of me as they did you. When I came to race in the Busch Series at the time, you were wearing us all out week in and week out. That was our chance to race against Mark Martin and to learn something from him. So ... I'm sure to all of us in this room, you are one of the greatest. We all think the world of you and respect the hell out of you."

And with that, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin have something else in common.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

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