Mammoth Blog

Much has been made, and rightly so, of the record. It stood for nearly three decades, owned solely by one simple, private man who lived on a South Carolina plantation, and as the years passed it came to be seen as unbreakable. And then came this unknown from Southern California, this former dirt biker and off-road racer, who attacked his sport with a surgical precision and an unflappable cool. Cale Yarborough and Jimmie Johnson stand side-by-side in history, the only drivers to win three consecutive championships on NASCAR's premier division, but only for a few more days.

Sunday, that all changes. Barring an unforeseen and uncharacteristic collapse, Johnson will become the first driver to claim four consecutive crowns on what is now known as the Sprint Cup circuit. The evening at Homestead-Miami Speedway will be capped with the now-familiar sight of No. 48 team members holding up index fingers and spraying champagne. Johnson will move into a chapter of his own writing, as his four consecutive championships -- and counting, given that he'll be favored to win another next year -- take their rightful place among the greatest accomplishments the sport has ever seen.

But the record is only part of it. Four championships put Johnson in elite company, and would do so even if they had not come one after the other. At NASCAR's highest level, it's a plateau only three other men have reached. Even the numeral itself carries a great deal of significance; in some cultures the number four is a symbol of wholeness and completion, something that seems all too appropriate in this case. There are four seasons, four directions, four elements, four sides to a square.

And soon, for Johnson, there will be four championships. In one way he stands alone, but in another he has company. For in NASCAR, fourth titles have proven noteworthy for reasons other than just the number. Richard Petty's fourth championship season in 1972 ushered in the era of national sponsorship. Dale Earnhardt's fourth title in 1990 came amid one of the most gut-wrenching championship races the old points system ever produced. Jeff Gordon's fourth title in 2001 proved that he could stand on his own.

Now here comes Johnson, with his four-in-a-row record-breaker, ready to join an exclusive club. But he's not the charter member, mind you. As far as four championships are concerned, there are those who came before him -- drivers who may not have won their titles consecutively, but whose quartet of crowns set the bar equally as high. And it all begins with a snowy day in Chicago, a $250,000 handshake, and the man they call the King. source>>>