cup champion

The five-time defending Cup champion dominated Sunday at Kansas Speedway, weathering a series of late cautions and holding off Kasey Kahne to win for the first time since April.

Jimmie Johnson is the unprecedented four time, and reining Sprint Cup champion. In less that a month the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season will begin, and Johnson will look to win his fifth straight championship.

Of course there are 42 other guys who might have something to say about that, so let us take a look at the five guys who are the most likely to end Johnson's reign.

For the second race in a row at Michigan International Speedway three time defending Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson ran out of gas before the final lap of the race.

Sunday Johnson and his team took a sure top five finish and wound up 33rd. For most race teams that would be a devastating result, for Jimmie and his #48 team it was a calculated risk.

The Captain is back with the New York Rangers. Mark Messier, who in 1994 led the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup title in 54 years, is returning to the club as a special assistant to general manager Glen Sather, the club said Sunday.

Messier, a six-time Cup champion as a player, has not been shy in recent years about his desire to eventually run a team as GM.

"But going into Homestead, you never know. You never know what's going to happen.

'We could easily have an issue and not finish the race.

We just have to stay focused and keep our heads down."

Jimmie Johnson took command of the Nextel Cup championship Sunday, winning at Phoenix International Raceway to open a daunting lead over teammate Jeff Gordon in the race to the title.

Johnson, the defending Nextel Cup champion, heads to next week's season finale in Homestead, Fla., with a comfortable 86-point lead over Gordon.