Johnson will stake his claim to history Sunday

Barring the biggest upset in NASCAR history, Jimmie Johnson will win his third-straight Sprint Cup title Sunday. AP

The subject was history. It often is these days for Jimmie Johnson, and it came up again on Thursday night when I had dinner with Johnson and his wife, Chandra, at Philippe, a swanky restaurant in South Beach. When it was mentioned to Johnson how difficult it is to win not just one but three straight Cup championships -- something that hasn't been done in 30 years -- he turned reflective.

"I just feel so fortunate to be on a team where everything has fallen into place for us," Johnson said. "I've got a great crew chief in Chad [Knaus], a great crew, and a great owner in Rick Hendrick. We've just figured out how to get the job done, and hopefully we'll finish the season off on Sunday and make some history."

If Johnson doesn't capture the Cup on Sunday, it would be the biggest upset in NASCAR history. He holds a 141-point lead over Carl Edwards, and even if Edwards leads the most laps and wins the race, all Johnson has to do is finish 34th or better. This is roughly the equivalent of giving, say, the best team in the NFL a five-touchdown lead before the start of a game. As long as Johnson doesn't have a mechanical issue -- and that's highly unlikely, given that virtually every part in his car will have been tested and re-tested before the green flag falls -- or get caught up in an early accident, Johnson will be your 2008 Sprint Cup champion.

I recently had a long talk with Cale Yarborough, who 30 years ago became the last driver to win three straight titles. Yarborough mostly stays away from the track these days, but he watches the races every Sunday afternoon. "I'm a big fan of Jimmie Johnson," Yarborough told me. "I'm honored that he's going to join me winning three in a row ... What I admire about him and his team is that they are always at their best near the end of the races. That's the way I was as well."

The key moment of Johnson's season came back in March at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That afternoon Johnson struggled mightily, as he finished 29th and his lap times were a full two seconds behind those of Edwards, who took the checkered flag. Suddenly, it looked as if Johnson's bid for three straight titles was over before it started, because Vegas has a history of forecasting the future Cup champion; four of the last six winners there had gone on to win the title.

But after that race, Johnson and his crew began testing more than any other team in NASCAR. Nearly every week on either Tuesday or Wednesday -- or, in some cases, both days -- the No. 48 team traveled to different tracks around the country in search of speed. Most teams can't afford to do this, but thanks to the near bottomless resources of Hendrick Motorsports, Johnson and Knaus were able to get this extra track time.

Slowly, they began getting faster, as they started to figure out different ways to make their car fly through the corners. And by the time the Chase started, Johnson and Knaus were peaking, which was their plan all along. Because unlike most teams, Johnson and Knaus essentially view the first 26 races of the season as glorified test sessions that help you get ready for the Chase. And when it matters most, no team is better than the No. 48.

Late on Sunday night, long after the race in Homestead will be over, a party in South Beach will be held to toast the 2008 champion. Last year, Johnson and his inner-circle of friends enjoyed a bottle of champagne that was so tall it nearly came up to Johnson's waist. That scene, no doubt, will be reprised in the small hours of Monday morning. And Johnson will deserve to celebrate. After all, he'll have clearly established himself as the top driver of the Chase era.