FanHouse Chase For The Sprint Cup

It took just 3 hours, 24 minutes and 20 seconds of racing action Sunday at Dover International Speedway to allow "Superman" to reassert his dominance over NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.

Jimmie Johnson pounded the field around the concrete one-mile oval for his fifth career win at Dover and fourth of the season to take home the AAA 400 trophy. Johnson led some 271 laps and never looked back despite late cautions that brought the competition back to his bumper three times in final 100 laps.

In doing so, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus served notice that they don't expect a change from recent years at the celebration following the season's final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

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Based on the five versions of the Chase for the Sprint Cup we've seen so far, two things are clear.

First, Jimmie Johnson's run of three straight championships has to leave the No. 48 as the car to beat, regardless of his performance heading to the Chase. And second, drivers agree: average a top-five finish and you'll be hosting the beautiful Tiffany & Co.-built trophy in Homestead.

In fact, that's what Jimmie Johnson has done in the past two years, setting the bar for what this season's slate of drivers will be aiming for.

Based on the last three seasons, Jimmie Johnson has to be a favorite to win his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup title. The NASCAR world gets the championship fight under way this weekend in New Hampshire with the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup with 11 other drivers fighting to knock off the No. 48.

Can they do it? FanHouse writers Holly Cain and Geoffrey Miller chime in on that and plenty more as they go Wheel2Wheel about Jimmie Johnson:

Will Jimmie Johnson make it four championships in-a-row?

Geoffrey Miller: If you would have asked me, oh, four weeks ago the answer would be a resounding yes. But since Johnson took over and won at Indianapolis, he hasn't exactly lit up the Sprint Cup Series. There's been no Johnson just flat knocking 'em dead with top-fives and wins, and instead we've seen some chinks in the armor of the No. 48.

Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Scott Pruett and plenty of others in the NASCAR world have got to be wondering: Is the driver of No. 42 really Juan Pablo Montoya?

It's a good question thanks to the new tune that crew chief Brian Pattie has managed to get Montoya to sing during his 2009 run to earn a spot in his first Chase for the Sprint Cup. That tune, of course, showed its face on Friday at Michigan International Speedway ahead of Sunday's 400-miler at the 2-mile venue.

"We know what average we have to run to be in the Chase. It doesn't matter who beats you that one day or another," said Montoya. "Play it smart, don't take any big risks and hopefully it pays off."