Only question remaining is, how far can Johnson go? (cont'd)

"It takes time to get to where they're at," said former Hendrick driver Brian Vickers, now at Red Bull. "It took them a long time to get to where they're at. It's hard to just build what they have in one year. Not that it can't be done -- you have to build that confidence, consistency, the knowledge base, and the notes and be able to go fast. A lot of it is just experience. A lot of it is ability and how they approach racing and the Chase, but some of it is just experience. They have been doing it for a long time with the same group of people and you can't just snap your fingers and get that."

But a lot of other teams have experience, too. And yet, only Johnson and Knaus seem immune to the cyclical peaks and valleys that have typically defined this sport.

"I don't know if it's something mechanically on the cars, a way of doing things there, or if it's a way of managing people," mused Carl Edwards, who won nine races last season, and seemed to emerge as Johnson's chief rival before going winless this year. "I don't know where exactly their advantage lies. It could be both of those places, but I'd say that that's the team you want to emulate and figure out what they're doing, but I don't know the answer. I don't know what they're doing, but whatever it is, it's good."

Competitors are left scratching their heads, lending a degree of credence to the idea that Johnson might be able to match -- or even exceed -- the mark set by seven-time champions Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty. Even Johnson, who was hesitant to discuss his place in NASCAR history before Sunday evening, will admit that his accomplishments of the past four years place him in some rarefied air.

"It's up there," Johnson said. "The fact that nobody has done this, I think it puts me near the top. I certainly look at the seven championships by both Earnhardt and Petty, their race wins, their being in the sport for an amount of years and all that they've done. Those two guys are kind of in a draw at the top. Hopefully my stats and win totals and championship totals can rival theirs. But it puts us up there, it really does. And the cool thing is, we're not done yet. We've got a lot of racing left ahead of us, so hopefully we can improve on that."

All indications are that they will. Yes, there are more races to be run, and more seasons to be completed, and at some point the competition has to close the gap. But right now, it's as wide and bright as Biscayne Bay, which in the daytime shimmers just like Johnson's newest silver trophy. Even so, they take nothing for granted. Knaus, ever the pragmatist, has more modest and immediate objectives.

"I think when you get on a wave like this and you get momentum behind you, you don't want to slow down," the crew chief said. "I think you get excited and you want to continue it on. It's easy to feed off that fire once it starts to develop. But the thing is, this sport is so, so difficult. It's a grueling, non-forgiving sport, it really is. If we went out there next week, let's say we raced again next week, and finished 20th -- you know what? You better get to work. There are no concessions. Nobody is going to give you anything in this industry. ... So are our sights set any further than qualifying for the Daytona 500 next year? They're not. That's our first goal."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.