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Posted on Sunday, 11.22.09

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES | FORD 400

Rivals don't know how to stop NASCAR's Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson is on the verge of an unprecedented fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup title because of his consistency with high finishes, one of the best crew chiefs and the backing of powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports. The question is: Who can stop his

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BY ADAM H. BEASLEY

abeasley@MiamiHerald.com

The preferred parlor game among NASCAR's best and brightest this weekend has nothing to do with Sunday's season-ending Ford 400 in Homestead.

For all intents and purposes, 2009 has been conceded to Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 team.

Sure, Johnson hasn't technically clinched his record-breaking fourth consecutive Sprint Cup title -- he needs a 25th-or-better finish at the Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday -- but with Johnson earning the pole Friday, that is considered a formality.

Mark Martin is the only driver with a chance of snatching the title away from Johnson, but he faces a nearly insurmountable 108-point deficit.

So instead of coming up with ideas of how to derail Johnson this year, drivers, owners and pundits already have begun scheming for 2010.

And what have they come up with so far?

Umm . . . not a whole lot.

``Dynamite over at the 48 shop,'' was Ryan Newman's idea.

Dale Jarrett, the 1999 Winston Cup champion who is now an ESPN commentator, thinks a rival team should make a big money offer to lure away Johnson's longtime crew chief Chad Knaus.

As for Tony Stewart, who is never one to mince words?

``Buddy, if we knew that, we'd already be doing it,'' said Stewart, who enters Sunday's race in fifth place in the Sprint Cup Series standings.

You mean you don't have any ideas at all, Tony?

``No, we don't,'' Stewart said. ``Don't you think that after four years of doing this, if someone would have known what it is and pinpointed it, they would have done something by now? You've just got to be consistent.''

And in on those last six words, Stewart succinctly summed up Johnson's seemingly straightforward but often elusive strategy: finish near the front every race.

In the first nine races of the Chase for the Cup, Johnson has finished out of the top 10 just once -- and that was two weeks ago in Texas when he was wrecked by Sam Hornish Jr. on the third lap.

Johnson has won seven times this season -- three before the Chase, four during it.

And most impressively: Johnson has raced full-time in the Sprint Cup Series for eight years. He never has finished out of the top five.

``Who's come into the sport and done that? No one,'' Jarrett said. ``I personally don't think that he gets the accolades that he should as a driver and a competitor.''

Of course, it doesn't help that Johnson races for Hendrick Motorsports, the sport's gold standard, and has had the same crew in place for his entire Sprint Cup career.

``That's the one thing. Does someone go in there and take Chad Knaus out of the equation?'' Jarrett said. ``We've seen over the years that these driver and crew chief relationships, they go somewhere about seven to eight years.

``Is someone going to offer enough that he honestly can't say no? I think that's the thing that would break them up. Other than just a terrible run of bad fortune, I think that's about it.''

That scenario doesn't appear likely, at least anytime soon.

Team owner Rick Hendrick announced this week that, in addition to locking in Johnson through 2015, the team is close to signing Knaus to a multiyear extension.

Which means, it will be up to the rest of the field to figure out a way to beat Johnson. He has given no signs that he will beat himself.

His current run is the stuff of legends. Dale Earnhardt Jr. said this week that Johnson belongs in the same conversation as his late dad. Jarrett said winning four consecutive Sprint Cup titles would be like Tiger Woods winning all four majors in the same year. And then doing it three more times.

Another popular comparison: Hendrick and Johnson are the New York Yankees. The Evil Empire on four wheels.

``I'm a big Cubs fan, the loveable losers,'' said Kurt Busch, who is fourth in points -- trailing three Hendrick drivers. ``We don't like Yankees, but we all respect in this industry what Rich Hendrick has done.

``It's up to the rest of us to beat them.''

If only they knew how.

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