Jimmie Johnson could win his record setting fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Sunday in the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami. (Photo: Getty Images)

Since 2002, Johnson has won 47 Sprint Cup races. By comparison, in that same period, Jeff Gordon and
Tony Stewart have each won 24 times, while Kurt Busch has won 20 times and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 14.

In eight full seasons of Sprint Cup racing, Johnson has never finished worse than fifth in points, and he’s been first or second six times. And, oh yeah, he’s won 30 percent of the races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup since that format was adopted in 2004.

“There’s a lot of people at Hendrick Motorsports who played a role in his success, but you’ve got to give Jimmie credit, because he’s the one who has that desire to get up Monday morning after he’s run 500 miles and run 5 miles (on foot),” said Hendrick. “He trains one way for the season and then when the Chase starts, he goes on a different regimen of what he eats and the way he works out. The kind of dedication he has to being the best he can physically and mentally, you’ve got to give Jimmie Johnson credit for that.”

Tony Stewart, himself a two-time series champion and the last driver other than Johnson to win a Cup title, said Johnson is complete as a driver.

“You don’t get to this level by not having talent,” said Stewart. “He has an extremely high amount of talent. He knows what he wants out of his race cars. He knows that feel that he wants. There are guys that are good qualifiers and fall off a little in the race and there are guys that are vice versa. Jimmie is one of those guys who excels at qualifying and the race.”

Darrell Waltrip, another multi-time Cup champion, doesn’t hesitate when he talks about where Johnson & Co. rank.

“In my mind, this driver, this crew chief, this team is the best ever, bar none,” said Waltrip. “And I’ve seen them all. (Richard) Petty, (Dale) Earnhardt, (Jeff) Gordon, (Bill) Elliott. This team is the best.”

On Sunday, Johnson can state his case with a fourth straight title.

“Watching Jimmie and his talent and the way he takes care of himself, I think today he’s as good as any I’ve ever seen,” said Hendrick. “And I think he’s going to be that way for a long time. I think he’s going to re-write the books.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of ?Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,? and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to