None better in the clutch than Johnson

By DAVID GREEN

Don't think, if you read my post of a week ago about Jeff Burton, that I'm fickle. I'd still love to see Jeff Burton win a Cup Series championship. But after today, it's getting more and more difficult to expect anything except a history-making title for Jimmie Johnson. And I'm OK with that, too.

The Lowe's Chevrolet driver tightened his grip on the points lead today at Martinsville with a dominant victory. With four races to go, he has 149 points on his closest challenger. Barring a collapse in the remaining events, Johnson will become only the second driver in NASCAR history to win three straight championships.

How can anybody not be impressed with this guy and his team?

Regardless of your opinion of the Chase, you have to admit that a driver's performance in pressure situations is critical. Regardless of your opinion of the Chase, you have to admit that nobody drives better when a championship is on the line than Johnson.

He won four races in the first Chase in 2004, including a streak of three out of four leading up to the finale at Homestead. He won two of the 10 races in the 2005 Chase and had a single victory en route to his first Cup title in 2006. He won four of the final five races last year, and now he has won twice in the first six races of this year's Chase.

Thirteen of his 39 career victories -- exactly one third -- have come in championship competition.

Whether he adds to those victory totals remains to be seen. He has yet to actually, officially clinch the record-tying third straight championship.

But surely he has proven himself one of the elite drivers of the era. If he wins this year's Cup Series title, it will render all discussion about the methodology of determining the champion moot.