Over four days in Las Vegas, that all felt as far away as the California state line. Johnson's sixth championship may seem in many minds like a bridge to a potential seventh crown, which would knot Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty for most of all time. But there were no indications of that this past week, when Johnson and his team celebrated their sixth championship with all the gusto of their first. This wasn't about what might be to come -- it was about what was already accomplished, a championship that to Johnson and his No. 48 crew was much more than just the stepping stone so many have assumed it to be. More...