Winning a Cup is tough, keeping it nearly impossible

Jimmie Johnson not only ran from his burning car at Indianapolis, but may have also witnessed his Cup repeat hopes flee, too. AP

In the groove Which drivers appear to have the magic touch this season that could result in a Cup title? Here are five whol will be racing for the crown this fall: Jeff Gordon: Over the past five races, Gordon has collected more points than any other driver and posted an average finish of 5.2. His points lead over second-place Denny Hamlin has grown from 264 to 371. Tony Stewart: Stewart has won the last two races, leaping pass all but Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in number of wins this season. Under the new Chase format that relies more on victories, Stewart would start the playoffs in third. Kyle Busch: Busch has moved from 11th to eighth in the standings over the past five races. In that time he's piled up more points than anybody but Gordon and posted an average finish of 7.6. Juan Montoya: n the last five races, Montoya has jumped five spots in the standing. He's moved from 23rd in the points to 18th. With a win at Sonoma and a second place at Indy, Montoya is just 200 points out of the final spot for the Chase playoffs. Jeff Burton: His average finish of 8.2 over the past five races is third best on the circuit, enabling him to move up one spot to fourth in the standings. In that span he's closed the gap on second place from 209 points to just 66.

As Jimmie Johnson is finding out, defending a Nextel Cup championship is one of the most difficult accomplishments in sports. History is a tough foe, especially if you're missing your crew chief.

Johnson started out the 2007 season so strong that many started to wonder if he could three-peat, a feat that has only been accomplished once in NASCAR history (Cale Yarborough in 1976-78). The driver of the No. 48 Chevy won four of the first 11 races this season and posted four other top-four finishes. He was dominant.

But since then, Johnson has only one top-five finish. At Pocono on June 10, he finished a career-worst 42nd. Blown tires have sent Johnson into the wall the last two events, ending the races early. He finished 37th in Chicago, 39th in Indy. Hardly the stuff of championships, but also nothing that should come as a surprise.

Since Jimmy Carter was president, only three drivers have won two consecutive titles. That stat is skewed a bit since Dale Earnhardt did it three times ('86-87, '90-91 and '93-94). Darrell Waltrip accomplished the feat in '81-82, and it's been almost a decade since Jeff Gordon was the last repeat titlist in '97-98.

How are most championships won? First, drivers are consistent, with strong performances week in and week out. Then, they get a little lucky. Drivers in championship form avoid DNFs, early-race wrecks and last-place finishes. Perhaps most important, they bounce back from a poor performance. They don't have bad streaks, slumps that last longer than a race or two.

Bobby Labonte has been part of several NASCAR championships. As a youngster, he was on the crew when his brother Terry won the '84 Cup title. He then drove to the '91 Busch and 2000 Cup championships.

Labonte once explained the challenge of winning a double: "You've got to keep moving forward or you are sitting still, and that's what will get you behind."

Or as Gordon put it: "Usually what you win with one year isn't going to be enough the second year."

One overriding reason teams fail to have enough the second year is that they lose key members. Competing teams hire away a crew member, often promoting a wrench turner into a crew chief as they try to buy some of that winning chemistry.

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