Jimmie Johnson at His House: Can Team 48 Keep Momentum for a Three-Peat?

The Rainbow Warrior tried and failed in 1999. The Intimidator wasn't even close in his try in '92. Ol' DW was close, but Bobby Allison was just a bit better in 1983.

Three-peat champions are hard to come by in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing; only one driver has successfully completed this feat. And who would that driver be?

That man is Cale Yarborough, who piloted Junior Johnson's No. 11 Chevys, and later, Oldsmobiles to Winston Cup titles from 1976 to 1978. Those gold cars were a fixture, too, in victory lane, winning 28 races during that particular three-year span. Since then, no other driver has duplicated Cale's historic accomplishment.

However, in one of the more lackluster years of NASCAR Sprint Cup, fans may witness history in 2008. If Jimmie Johnson, who is the current points leader through in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, can maintain his consistency and snag a few wins in the remaining races, he will join Yarborough in the "third time's a charm department."

And with the No. 48 team's recent runs and finishes, Yarborough's 30-year old record may be in jeopardy.

Coming into Lowe's Motor Speedway with a 72-point edge over Carl Edwards, Johnson and the Lowe's team led by Chad Knaus find themselves at "home."

It's overly stated but facts are facts: Driver 48 has collected 5 victories, 8 top fives, and 11 top 10's in his 15 previous starts at the track.

While his last trip to the winner's circle at this facility was three years ago, in this very same race, he has got reason to feel at home in the 48-year-old Concord, N.C., speed arena.

Is it luck, the way the Chase works, or simple talent sees Jimmie Johnson and his team in position to win their third championship in a row?

Dale Earnhardt endured a year of bad luck and inconsistency in 1992, finishing 12th in a year when Ford sheet metal was the way to go in NASCAR.

He would go on to win his sixth and seventh titles in '93 and '94, but his second try at a third title (and ultimately the chase for his elusive eighth championship) was derailed by Jeff Gordon, even with the Rainbow Warrior's near-choke in 1995.

Even after his hard crash in the 1983 Firecracker 400, Darrell Waltrip put on his typical fall surge, only for his late-season rally to be good enough for a runner-up finish to Bobby Allison's consistency that year.

And what about the man who co-owns Johnson's Lowe's Chevys? Despite winning seven times in 1999, Jeff Gordon found himself finishing in sixth in points due to a myriad of DNFs and poor finishes in the late segment of that season.

The crashes, engine failures, and bad setups that seemingly cursed the team few and far in between from 1995 to 1998 made their presence known to the Wonderboy in '99.

His fourth title would come in 2001, but not with the typical dominance expected of the No. 24 team.

Like the three champions before him in their attempts, J.J. and his team simply don't lay back when it's crunch time. Not to take anything away from the other drivers and teams, but if you're a team owner who needs a driver who can bring it home and win a title, you'd be a fool to overlook Jimmie Johnson.

He came painfully close to a title in 2004, and certainly performed well in 2005 only to see his title shot go flat, thanks to a tire.

Then there was 2006. In a Chase that saw the sport's two marquee names return to the title hunt, it was Johnson who rallied from certain defeat to the top of the title mountain in a year of crew-chief controversy and early-playoff hiccups.

Last year, the No. 48 team entered themselves in the NASCAR fans' dictionary: look them up under the term "domination." With an average Chase finish of fifth and four consecutive victories from Martinsville to Texas, he affirmed himself as the man to beat in 2008 and for the foreseeable future.

They say records are made to broken. If Yarborough's title trifecta does indeed fall after the checkered flag is flown at Homestead Miami Speedway, he'll be in good company with a man whose career record also speaks for itself.