Jimmie Johnson raises the champion's flag after clinching the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship in the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Six of his seven titles were won in seasons in which only five or six drivers – or less – competed for the championship, and most of them weren’t in the same league as Petty. Three of his seven titles were won against James Hylton and Dave Marcis, journeymen drivers who combined to win just seven races throughout long careers.

It wasn’t until 1979 that Petty faced any real competition, winning a close points battle with Waltrip, Allison and Yarborough.

Earnhardt faced stiffer competition, but even then, in the 1980s and early ’90s, the field of potential winners and championship contenders wasn’t as deep as it is today.

And winning a title in today’s Chase is much more difficult than winning one under the old, season-long points format.

Earnhardt won four of his seven titles by building big point leads and then cruising to the title, clinching it before the season finale. He was a master stroker, finishing where he needed to in order to maintain or pad his lead.

Johnson has had no such luxury. He has won all five titles in fierce battles against 10 or 12 other drivers.

Each year, he has had to rise to the occasion during a 10-race, pressure-packed playoff race. And he has done it by winning races and producing top-five finishes at crucial moments.

Of his 53 career victories, 19 have come in the Chase, 13 in his five championship seasons. In Earnhardt’s seven championship seasons, he won just 11 races in the final 10 of the season.

What Johnson has proven is that no one in the history of the sport was better at rising to the occasion and handling extreme pressure when it mattered most.

Though he dominated the Chase from 2007-09, he won his first and his latest titles by coming from behind.

This year’s performance was arguably the greatest of his career, rallying from a 15-point deficit in the final race of the season. While contenders Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick choked, Johnson did not, capturing the title with a sterling runnerup finish to become the first driver in Chase history and just the third since 1972 to win it after trailing going into the final race.

Critics argue that Johnson continues to win because he has the best team, the best crew chief and the best car. So did Petty, and so did Earnhardt.

They argue that Johnson would not have won five championships under the old points system. Maybe. But Petty might not have won seven had he raced against better competition, or if Pearson had run the full schedule.

And Earnhardt might not have won seven had Tim Richmond not died, or if Darrell Waltrip hadn’t left Junior Johnson.

You can’t change history, and you can’t go on what-ifs.

Petty had to contend with four great drivers during his championship years – Pearson, Yarborough, Allison and Waltrip.

Earnhardt had to contend with those legends for a brief period of time, and then had to beat such rising stars as Richmond, Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Geoff Bodine and Terry Labonte.

The late Dale Earnhardt (Pictured) won seven NASCAR Sprint Cup titles, tying the record set by Richard Petty. (Photo: Getty Images)

Johnson’s competition has been equally as impressive – Gordon, Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Harvick.

Unlike Petty and Earnhardt, Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team have had to battle other huge, well-funded, multicar operations that, like Hendrick, have corned the market on sponsors, drivers and top crewmen.

One of Johnson’s most impressive feats is continuously beating Gordon, his own teammate, who is a four-time champion, an 82-race winner and one of the top five drivers of all-time.

It was Gordon who stopped Earnhardt’s dominance and ushered in a new era. In just a few short years, he quickly became one of the greatest and most dominant drivers in the sport’s history.

But just as quickly, Johnson surpassed him and made him an afterthought at Hendrick Motorsports.

That’s at least as impressive as Petty consistently beating Pearson, Yarborough and Allison.

It’s only a matter of time before Johnson has all the numbers to match Petty, Earnhardt, Gordon and the rest of the all-time greats.

Only 35, he will win seven championships to tie Petty and Earnhardt, quite possibly in the next two years. The real Chase is for eight.

If you don’t concede that he is the greatest ever, you will soon. His seventh title in the sport’s most competitive era will cement that status.

I say he’s already there.

SceneDaily.com • Sam Hornish Jr. could end up in Nationwide Series for Penske Racing