Whether you like him or not one thing is clear, Jimmie Johnson demands respect. One of the greatest drivers to join the sport since Jeff Gordon, Sunday night Johnson tied NASCAR legend Cale Yarborough as only the second driver to win three consecutive Cup Series championships.

One of the most calm, cool and collected drivers in the garage area, Johnson has set the bar about as high as it could be over the last three seasons. During that time Johnson and his Chad Knaus-led team have put up amazing numbers. Three championships, twenty-two wins, forty-eight top-fives and seventy top-ten finishes are numbers that will make this team legends in their own right.

"I don't understand why Jimmie Johnson hasn't gotten more credit than he has gotten for being one of the best that's been in a car," team owner Rick Hendrick said Friday in Homestead. "If you look at the statistics of the races that he's entered and his top-fives top-tens and wins, I don't think anybody has a better record than what he has had."

"In my eyes, he's the best that there's been," Knaus said of his driver. "That may be a little - whatever you want to say. People are going to say Richard Petty is, Dale Earnhardt and all those guys. But with the competition level the way it is today with way you've go to do working, racing day-in and day-out, no time off, in my mind, he is the best."

In only his eighth year in the Cup Series, Johnson has caught a lot of flack from race fans. Accused of being the polar opposite of what a NASCAR driver should be, many on the other side of the fence believed the California-native was just another poster boy for the sport in a time when it was abandoning its roots.

Now that he has joined one of the toughest competitors in NASCAR history in the record books, Johnson has truly solidified his place in the sport. Not just equaling Yarborough's record of three straight, this year's title makes Johnson only the eighth driver to win three or more championships in the history of the sport - joining the likes of Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip, Yarborough, David Pearson and Lee Petty.

"That's elite company," Johnson said. "I can't believe it. Those are names that I worshiped when I was a kid and looked up to and had the pleasure of being around them and meeting them. I'm just kind of at a loss of words. It's such a special day and I'm really proud of this team."

The members that make up the No. 48 team have been one of the most crucial aspects of these championship runs. Over the years, Chad Knaus has led by example, never given in and never given up even in the face of adversity. Always willing to push the envelope and do whatever it takes to win races and contend for championships has made Knaus one of the greatest to ever sit atop the pit box. This year's title has earned him his own spot in the NASCAR record books as the only crew chief to win three consecutive titles.

"We're very fortunate to have a group of people at Hendrick Motorsports that all they want to do is win races," Knaus explained. "It's difficult for people to understand, we don't have a lot of 9:00-5:00er's. We don't have people like that. We have people that try to win races and try to win championships. That's what we want to do.

Down and out after the first five races of the season - the team had only one top-five, three finishes outside the top-15 and was thirteenth in the standings - many began to question the Hendrick organization's ability to rebound. Putting their collective nose to the grindstone, they were able to not only rebound but repeat for the championship.

"I don't think we ever thought we wouldn't have a shot at the championship," Johnson said of their early struggles. "But we knew we had to get things together. It just took a team effort of testing, R&D from the engine shop, from chassis, bodies, every department had to buckle down and figure out where the speed was.

"When you're off base it takes a while to one, figure out you're off base, two, find out what the problem is, and three, start working in the new areas to find speed. It just took us a little time. We got things turned around and got into a comfortable position to transfer into the Chase. As the season went on, we just kept getting stronger and stronger and understanding the car better and better, it was just a group effort."

Judging by this team's attitude and confidence Sunday night, there is no reason they can not go out next year and seriously contend for what would be a record fourth-straight title.

"Yeah, we want four, why not?" Knaus said of next season. "That's why we're here. We think with the team that we've got, the resources we've got with Hendrick Motorsports and Team Chevrolet behind us, we can definitely go bid for four championships in a row. Why wouldn't we?"

There is no doubt those playing second-fiddle at the awards banquet this year will be even more competitive for the title next year. Yet, if anyone wants to claim the championship they are going to have to knock this team from the top - something no one has been able to do in three years now.