Johnny Benson

By now it shouldn't be news to anyone that Jimmie Johnson has what it takes to make history.

He and his team of the No. 48 Chevrolet of Hendrick Motorsports became the first to win back-to-back Cup championships since his teammate Jeff Gordon did it in 1997-98.

Johnson finished seventh in the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway to wind up 77 points ahead of Gordon.

He is a driver-dynasty in the making.

Chasing a pair of racing legends
The career mark for Cup championships is seven shared by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Gordon has four and Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, and Lee Petty three. And then there's a group of eight drivers with two including Johnson. Don't expect Johnson to remain in that group for too long.

Next season he'll bid for his third straight title in just his seventh full year in Cup racing. In his previous six seasons he's never finished lower than fifth in the championship standings. He's only 32 and he loves that he has staying power among the elite drivers in the sport. He loves that his team is the most consistent in the Cup series and that every year it's in the title hunt. He loves having Chad Knaus as his crew chief and he loves having the vast resources of Hendrick Motorsports behind him. These days when it comes to his racing Johnson loves it all.

With so much talent and expertise as a driver and with so much going for him with his organization, his team, and his teammates he clearly has a shot at equaling or breaking the all-time record for Cup championships won.

Will he want to race long enough to have a shot at the mark? That's the key question. At present, Johnson seems like he couldn't even think of not being part of racing at the Cup level. Life at the track and life in general are just that good for him.

Johnson's 10 wins stood out most from his superb season, especially with four of them coming consecutively in the Chase. To be that consistent and that good race to race is something every driver and every organization wants to experience. And when you get to experience it, you want to keep experiencing it. The smart money says Johnson will continue doing just that.

Making the right calls
Johnson has been able to pull out wins late in races and helping make that happen is a change in the focus of his team. Earlier is his Cup career Johnson would try to be fastest for an entire race. Knaus would have him really pushing the car, being aggressive, and trying to lead the most laps. Knaus would also be aggressive with his pit calls in the early going of a race. What driver, crew chief and team found out is attempting to be the fastest car for the whole race doesn't automatically translate into a win.

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So at the start of last season Knaus sold Johnson and the team on adapting a new mentality. Their goals are to get to the late-race laps with their car in good shape and Johnson not worn out. This new pace allows them to work on the No. 48 car throughout the race, and also be in striking distance of a win coming down the stretch. If they're in that position, Knaus can come up with something to do to the car that could get it to Victory Lane.

The adjustment in race strategy was an excellent call. It takes a great race team to change styles and do so without missing a beat. Also a key is the communication between driver and crew chief. Knaus credits Johnson with having an amazing ability to describe what a car is doing during a race. Johnson can get across with specificity what the car is doing at specific parts in a corner. Knaus is greatly aided by this information and he uses it and previous data to determine what adjustments need to be made to the No. 48 Chevrolet.

What shouldn't be overlooked is that with such a large and successful organization as Hendrick Motorsports Johnson gets awfully good cars to start with. If you're close on a setup it's much easier to make the adjustments to really hit on something than it is if your car starts out with a setup that is way off the mark. The value of the engineering and overall support Hendrick Motorsports provides its drivers, crew chiefs and teams can't be underestimated. Hendrick Motorsports utilizes its resources as well as any organization in the sport.

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