Back to back in any major sport is hard to do. In the highly competitive world of NASCAR Cup Series racing, its close to impossible. The names that have repeated not only had the resources behind them, they figured out every track to optimize maximum results. That is how championships happen.
You need a lot of things to win championships. The obvious things are great ownership/sponsorship, teamwork provided by a close-knit group of highly talented people, a crew chief who is the epitome of focus, and organization, and last but not least, a driver who has a relentless drive to go to the front and stay there.
To win the Cup championship is the zenith in American motorsports. To win it in consecutive years, especially when you have to beat a four-time champ who just happens to be your teammate to do it, is the stuff of greatness.
Give it up, the Hendrick/Lowes number 48 Chevy team has now added themselves to the group of elite teams who have accomplished the near impossible. In the process, Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus have moved out of the shadow of the 24 team at Hendrick to be reccognized as the best in the business.
The great 48...
Has a nice ring to it!