Jimmie Johnson's win at Martinsville gives him the largest lead in the five-year history of the Chase. AP

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- With four races to go in the Chase for the Championship, these are the words that NASCAR doesn't want to hear: It's over.

Jimmie Johnson's dominant victory in Sunday's TUMS Quikpak 500 at Martinsville Speedway gives him a 149-point lead over Greg Biffle. That's the largest lead in the five-year history of the Chase with four races to go.

Biffle is still mathematically alive, but it would take a monumental collapse by Johnson to keep from winning his third title in a row. Only one driver in NASCAR history, Cale Yarborough (1976-78), has won three Cup titles in succession.

Johnson's latest win -- his third win in this race in the last four years at Martinsville -- had teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. comparing Johnson to some of the best drivers in the sport's history.

"Obviously Daddy [seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt] had a great run and was dominant," Junior said. "He won a lot of races on just brute instinct and determination. But they only really dominated the sport in 1987 and maybe a little bit in '86. All of the other things they did in sport were just by brute determination.

"But Jimmie and those guy are slick and they are faster [every] week, and they win races by being the best car. I look at the history of the sport, and I think about Richard Petty and David Pearson and the Wood brothers and Cale Yarborough, and later on Darrell (Waltrip) and Junior (Johnson), and I put them right up there with them teams there. There are maybe only a good handful or half a dozen teams that are in that group, and I feel like they are really achieving that.

"To do it, Dad and Jeff [Gordon] and several other great competitors, Rusty (Wallace) and all those guys, were great race car drivers and had awesome careers. But to pack it in three years and just dominate like that, there's only a good half a dozen teams that's ever been good like that and been that strong consistently year after year after year."

Three championships in three years would be quite an accomplishment, but in crew chief Chad Knaus' mind, it would be evening up a score from a few seasons ago.

"We have got a great opportunity to do a lot of things. I feel like we -- and myself, primarily -- gave away two championships in 2004 in 2005, and I feel like we had a big learning curve at that point, and I'd like to somehow get those championships back."

NASCAR probably wouldn't mind if there were a little more drama involved in Johnson & Co. doing so this year, but that's not likely to happen. This one is over.

RADIO EXCHANGE OF THE WEEK

After struggling with his Dodge Charger throughout the race, including lengthy repairs in the Martinsville garage area that had him running 31 laps off the pace, Kurt Busch radioed to his crew before a restart on lap 390 and asked, "Would it be all right if I parked this car?"

"Absolutely not, stay out," Walt Czarnecki radioed back.

"Ten-four," Busch said. "If I get hurt in this thing, thanks, appreciate it."

Team owner Roger Penske has fired IndyCar drivers for far less than that exchange. Just ask Paul Tracy, who was dumped in the late 1990s for ripping the team after dropping out of a CART race.

Other than it's 1-2 finish in the Daytona 500, with Ryan Newman winning ahead of Busch, this team has struggled this season. Newman, of course, is leaving at the end of the year to join Tony Stewart at Newman Haas Racing. Third driver Sam Hornish Jr. has struggled to stay in the top 35 most of this year. And Busch hasn't exactly been stellar, leading one to wonder how this team can return to prominence in 2009.

Here's an idea -- switch from Dodge to Toyota. It would make sense because Joe Gibbs Racing has shown this season how competitive the Toyota can be. While Dodge is currently developing a new engine, the payoff may be down the road.