Could Johnson challenge the King?

It was a tough year for Cale Yarborough. Not only did Jimmie Johnson tie his mark of three straight NASCAR top series titles, in my system Jeff Gordon's seventh place finish in this year's series gave him enough career points to pass Yarborough for fourth place all-time.

Gordon easily is close enough to Darrell Waltrip to pass him for third with a couple more top-shelf seasons and considering he races for Hendrick, he should have some wins left in him.

But Gordon is no longer the week-to-week force and looks unlikely to challenge Dale Earnhardt for second.

Now, you have to wonder how long Johnson can dominate and how high can he climb. It's not just the titles, Johnson has finished in the top five for seven straight years. He moved up three places at the end of this year to No. 8. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards appear to be the biggest threats to making it four in a row, but right now who is going to bet against him? Perhaps it's Johnson who can advance to No. 2 and make a run at Richard Petty. He'll need another 10 years at the top level to have a chance.

Farther down in the rankings, Jeff Burton moved up two spots to No. 26. Kevin Harvick climbed five spots to move into the ultimate race at No. 40. But even Harvick was passed by this year's rocket rise of Carl Edwards. Edwards enters the race at No. 38, a jump of 12 spots.

Harvick and Edwards knocked this year's Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman and Ernie Irvan out of the top 43.

Pole pos., Racer, Total
1. Richard Petty, 119.68
2. Dale Earnhardt, 91.83
3. Darell Waltrip, 84.33
4. Jeff Gordon, 83.62
5. Cale Yarborough, 83.52
6. David Pearson, 76.66
7. Bobby Allison, 72.36
8. Jimmie Johnson, 70.10
9. Lee Petty, 67.11
10. Bill Elliott, 66.64
11. Herb Thomas, 65.13
12. Dale Jarrett, 60.94
13. Buck Baker, 58.67
14. Ned Jarrett, 57.72
15. Tim Flock, 57.47
16. Tony Stewart, 52.83
17. Terry Labonte, 50.50
18. Mark Martin, 49.90
19. Benny Parsons, 49.75
20. Joe Weatherly, 42.90
21. Bobby Labonte, 41.53
22. Bobby Isaac, 39.26
23. Rex White, 38.27
24. Fireball Roberts, 38.00
25. Matt Kenseth, 37.64
26. Jeff Burton, 37.21
27. Harry Gant, 36.29
28. Fonty Flock, 36.23
29. James Hylton, 35.22
30. Kurt Busch, 35.21
31. Ricky Rudd, 33.77
32. Curtis Turner, 33.56
33. Junior Johnson, 33.16
34. Sterling Marlin, 31.51
35. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 30.89
36. Davey Allison, 30.29
37. Speedy Thompson, 28.54
38. Carl Edwards, 26.42
39. Dave Marcis, 26.25
40. Kevin Harvick, 25.99
41. Jim Paschal, 25.79
42. Ken Schrader, 24.63
43. Buddy Baker, 23.88