“I think we’ve got a really good shot,” said Johnson when asked about pulling even with Yarborough’s record. “I feel we’re getting stronger as a team. We won ten races in 2007 and let a few get away. It could have been 13 victories. I still feel we can do a better job.”

Theoretically, the new Chase format opened the door to enough talented drivers and teams during the final 10 races of the season that the odds looked pretty long when it came to one driver repeating as champion, much less winning three straight titles. There’s not even any guarantee a driver will make the Chase — as discovered by Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It bears mentioning that nine drivers, including Yarborough, have been in position to win three straight, but only Cale has pulled it off. Most recently, the list includes David Pearson, Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt and Gordon. “The King” had two shots at winning three straight and “The Intimidator” had three opportunities, yet neither one ever cashed in.

For his part, Yarborough had some distinct advantages in his three-year run in the late 1970’s. Team owner Junior Johnson was the first to perfect mid-race engine changes in the early years of the Latford system, where falling out of races with engine failures resulted in a severe points deficit.

Yarborough was the master of “go-or-blow,” an approach he said he learned in his early years as a Ford factory driver from his boss in Detroit, Jacques Passino. “He told me one day, ‘I don’t care how many fenders are on that car, I don’t care whether it’s upside down, I don’t care what kind of condition it’s in — as long as you were in front when it happened.’ I never forgot that and I made it a point to always run up front if there was any possible way.”

Not only did Yarborough’s style suit team owner Johnson. It perfectly matched up with what proved to be an unbeatable strategy under the Latford system. During 1977, the second year of his streak, Yarborough did not have a single DNF in 30 races thanks to Johnson’s quick engine changes, which eventually were done in 12 minutes. Runner-up Petty had six DNF’s that season.

In the mid-1970’s, Junior Johnson and Associates, Petty Enterprises and the Wood Brothers were the only teams with major sponsorships. Given that the Wood Brothers ran a limited schedule, only Petty remained as an antagonist to Yarborough, which was another advantage. Darrell Waltrip eventually got into the mix with DiGard Racing and Gatorade sponsorship, but did not come into his own as a championship contender until after Yarborough and Johnson had completed their hat trick.

Jimmie Johnson had at least one advantage in 2007. The Hendrick Motorsports team got the jump on the Car of Tomorrow, which was used in five of the ten Chase events. The advantage, said Johnson, owed a lot to the team’s over-all development program and less to individual squads. “We were just as scared as anybody else,” he said. “We didn’t realize we would be off to a quick start. The No. 48 team didn’t test at all until we got to the first COT test at Bristol. We hit on the right stuff early right away and got it working early.”

Eventually, that left Johnson with only one chief antagonist in the form of teammate Gordon. In retrospect, Gordon acknowledged that his No. 24 squad was not aggressive enough when it came to either car set-up or strategy during the ten-race Chase. (A stunning late charge by Gordon at Talladega to beat Johnson in the first COT race in Alabama was a notable exception.)

After a mid-season lull and a slow start to the Chase, Johnson hit his stride in a manner reminiscent of Yarborough’s aggressiveness. The key event was at Texas, where Johnson declined to settle for second place even though it would have secured first place in the Chase points. Instead, he chased down Matt Kenseth in the closing laps to score his third straight victory.

Johnson attributes being at the top of his game to winning his first title.

“I think winning the 2006 championship made me recognize that the team’s got it, I’ve got it, we can do it. We just have to do our jobs and do it in a harmonious way without trying to kill each other.”

But will the odds against repeat winners introduced by the Chase format catch up with Johnson in 2008 without some sort of clear cut edge other than the confidence now established with Crew Chief Chad Knaus?

What about the adjustments inherent with the arrival of Earnhardt Jr., as a teammate at Hendrick Motorsports?

It seems to me a guy not bothered by having NASCAR’s most accomplished driver as a teammate — Gordon — won’t be rattled much by having the sport’s most popular driver as a teammate.

As for the odds against repeat winners under the Chase format, I still wouldn’t bet in favor of any driver making it to three straight. Cale and Junior probably couldn’t do it these days, either.

Jonathan Ingram can be reached at jonathan@jingrambooks.com.