By Sam Atwell

When you talk about the season that Jimmie Johnson has had, in particular, the Chase for the Cup you run out of adjectives!  To win three championships in a row is something that has only happened one other time.  Its not that Jimmie was dominant all season long.  It was the fact that they figured out their shortcomings and fixed the problems and was able to get into championship form by race number 26.  Once the 48 team gets into the chase they have a blueprint to follow and they follow it to the letter. 

Their blueprint for a championship includes plans on how to deal with adversity.  They do it better than anyone else in the Sprint Cup Series does.  When they stumbled at Texas, they came out in Phoenix and did what champions do they won.  When Jimmie was caught speeding on pit road and goes a lap down they come back and finish in the top ten.   They are not rattled, they do not panic, and they look at the plan and do what they have laid out in front of them.  Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus have such an amazing relationship!  It almost sounds freakish, but they complete each other.  Jimmie is one of the most talented drivers in NASCAR; Chad is the brains behind the driver.  Chad never lets Jimmie get ahead of himself.  Chad never lets the team get down on themselves.  They are the most dominant team in NASCAR. The challenge for all the other teams during this off-season is to try to steal a copy of the 48-team blueprint.  Without that, they will not have a chance next season.  Is it too early to talk about four in a row?   Probably, oh well, the off-season has begun and we can talk about four in a row for the next two months.