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Sporting News, The, Feb 25, 2005 by Lee Spencer

Forget talking about the changes. For NASCAR in 2005, it's all about time.

Time for every driver except one to perform better than he did last year. Time to read a different sort of pressure gauge. Specifically, time for Kurt Busch to show he's not a one-year wonder. Time for Jimmie Johnson to win a title.

Time for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to show he's more than a brand. Time for Mark Martin to take his last shot at winning that ever-elusive championship. Time for the drivers to stop complaining about the new points format. Time, time, time.

And, when it comes right down to it, it's time to race.

Johnson is the man to beat

After Hendrick Motorsports cloned Jeff Gordon's championship team to create the No. 48 in 2001, it was simply a matter of Jimmie Johnson and his team nurturing the seeds of success.

Considering this was a startup squad and Johnson had limited NASCAR experience, the team set a goal of finishing 15th in points in 2002. Johnson surprised everyone by finishing fifth with three victories and four poles--and he has moved even higher.

Johnson finished second in points the past two seasons, but he'll finish one spot higher in 2005 because the No. 48 team has continued to build on a championship platform. Gordon's No. 24 team shares the shop with Johnson's team, and the wealth of information exchanged is unmatched in the garage. That was evident last fall, when the two teams remained in the hunt despite the Hendrick Motorsports plane crash in October. Johnson's team healed and recharged itself in the offseason.

Johnson got married and had time to reflect.

"I have definitely grown a lot and think I'm smarter and wiser, which is something that comes with experience and time," Johnson says. "I'm a lot more comfortable in my shoes today than I was at the start of the season last year. I know my team, I know the players, I know my ability with the car, I know what the demands are outside the racecar. So I'm more comfortable than I can ever recall being."

The No. 48 team has always worked on its weak points, even after winning a race--which was reflected in Johnson's 2004 sweeps of Darlington, Charlotte and Pocono. Johnson has a top 10 at every track on the circuit.

With crew chief Chad Knaus at the helm, Johnson will to continue to run on the edge.

"When Chad shows up to the racetrack, it's all about work and business," Johnson says. "He may ruffle your feathers. He may say something that doesn't come across the right way. But if you know Chad and you know his determination and where his heart is, you know he's all about having the fastest car and winning the race. That's the kind of crew chief I want."

One problem Johnson's team had in 2004 was a failure to finish races. He didn't finish seven of them, including two in the Chase, mostly because of engine problems. This team does not mind testing the limits to improve.

"Last year we learned a lot; we just didn't play our cards right," Johnson says.

Considering the experience Johnson gained in 2004, don't be surprised if he holds the winning hand in November.

He's not repeating himself

Six seasons have passed since Jeff Gordon won a second consecutive championship--and no one has won back-to-back titles since. Why? Simply because the responsibilities attached to the NASCAR champion are immense. And 2004 champion Kurt Busch already is feeling the strain.

"There is going to be added pressure at each of the venues," Busch says. "Everything weighs heavily on us to repeat because it's so hard to do."

Certainly, Busch is capable of repeating. His team has returned in full, and it has another year of working on the Taurus under its belt. Except for an engine failure at Atlanta, Busch and the No. 97 team ran a virtually flawless Chase, finishing in the top 10 in each of the nine other races. A miraculous run at Homestead--a wheel came off his car, but he still finished fifth--proved Busch is lucky and good, and that momentum will carry over into this season.

But it won't carry him to another title. Preparation is a key, but a team still needs good luck--which can run in cycles, Just ask Busch teammate Matt Kenseth, who failed to finish two races during his 2003 title run but didn't finish six last season (compared with Busch's three).

Then there are Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman--two perennial contenders who didn't finish 16 races combined in 2004. That won't happen this year; they won't make the same mistakes again.

Busch will start feeling the heat at Daytona, and it will follow him to California and Las Vegas and show in his results. As mature as Busch has become, he is not infallible.

Catch them while you can

There's more than a touch of gray under the helmets of Terry Labonte, Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin, but all three drivers still are more than capable of taking the checkered flag in a Nextel Cup race.

Wallace, 48, and Martin, 46, will run full time for the last time in 2005. Labonte, 48, will downshift to a part-time schedule.

Though Laborite and Wallace have Winston Cup trophies on their mantels, neither has been as consistently successful as Martin, who has finished in the top five in points in seven of the past 10 years.