Five things drivers and teams must do to win it

Tony Stewart's excellence on intermediate tracks has been a big factor in his two Cup championships. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

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Here are the five keys to winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup title.

1. Excel at intermediate tracks.

NASCAR defines an intermediate track as an oval that is greater than one mile in length, but less than two. By that definition, there will be 14 races on intermediate tracks in 2008, more than on any other type. Once a team gets its intermediate car dialed in, a driver can often run off a string of top finishes at Charlotte, Las Vegas, Texas, Atlanta, and similar tracks.

For example, Tony Stewart has raced on the Cup circuit for nine years. Of his 320 career starts, 201 have come at intermediate tracks. He has more top-10 finishes on them (125) than he has starts (119) on other types of courses.

In seven seasons, Jimmie Johnson has made 219 career starts, with 142 of them and 25 wins at intermediate tracks. He also has more top-10 finishes at intermediate tracks (94) than starts (77) at other courses. His average finish during his career on intermediate tracks is 10.3 -- three spots better than his average at any other type of NASCAR track.

2. Have some fun.

The NASCAR season, the longest in sports, is a grind. Drivers need to have patience. The pressure will mount to unbearable levels teams allow it. Accidents happen, but drivers can't carry a grudge from week to week and look for revenge. During races, officials will make bad calls. During the week, officials will change the rules. The more a team wins, the more media, fan and sponsor attention it will get. The demand for the driver's time increases to unbelievable loads. A driver needs to handle these situations, and the best way is to enjoy the ride.

3. Avoid bad finishes, especially the dreaded DNF. At all costs, teams must avoid slumps.

Even with last season's rule changes to increase the impact of wins on the championship hunt, NASCAR's points system rewards consistency. Rather, it rewards consistently good performances. This year, being consistent means mastering the Car of Tomorrow.

A bad finish doesn't kill your chances, especially early in the season. It is a long year, and the odds of even the best driver avoiding all the silly accidents are very low. Some rookie or hot head, or perhaps even a hot-headed rookie, will end your day prematurely. An engine will occasionally blow, even with the greatest of teams.

What must be avoided is a downward spiral. Often, when something bad happens, teams try too hard to make up for it. What follows is usually a mistake of their own doing. Then teams start chasing their tail, they don't even know what they are trying to fix.

Kurt Busch won the 2004 title with just three DNFs, completing 95 percent of all laps run during the entire season. The next year, champion Tony Stewart failed to finish only one race and completed an astounding 99.4 percent of all laps. Jimmie Johnson had just one DNF in 2006 when he won the title, then counterbalanced four DNFs in 2007 with 10 victories. He finished 98.8 percent of the laps during the 2006 season and completed 98.2 percent last year.

4. Peak at the right time.

Before the advent of the Chase, drivers such as Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Sr. built such big leads that they could coast toward the end of the year. Now, drivers look to build a big lead early in the season so that they can coast into the Chase. If you lock up one of the 12 spots early, then a team can be relaxed, do some experimenting, and work on their set-up for the final 10 races of the year.

Once the Chase begins, driver don't necessarily have to win every race, but they must be consistent, achieve the lowest average finish among the Chase drivers and make sure to grab as many bonus points as possible. This is the stretch where it is even more important to avoid the DNF.

5. Getting a ride with a juggernaut.

Powerhouse teams have dominated NASCAR. Right now, that means Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Roush Fenway Racing. Those three teams have won 12 titles in the last 13 seasons, with only Yates Racing (Dale Jarrett) in 1999 interrupting the streak. Being with Hendrick gave a driver a better than 50-50 chance during that span, so Dale Earnhardt Jr. knew what he was doing when he switched teams. Hendrick has won seven of the last 13 titles, with three different drivers capturing a crown.

If you want to go back even farther, the nine years before Jeff Gordon won his first title in 1995 where dominated by Richard Childress Racing and Dale Earnhardt, Sr., who won six of the titles. In the 15-year span before that, five were won by Richard Petty Enterprises and six by owner Junior Johnson.

So in the past 37 years, 24 titles were won by four teams (Hendrick, Childress, Petty and Johnson). Include Gibbs and Roush, and six teams have won 29 of the past 37 titles.