Johnson's championship celebration tempered by preparation for next season

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - There were times during the celebration Sunday night when Chad Knaus' mind drifted to more important things. In between smiles and swigs of champagne, he was making mental notes to make Jimmie Johnson's car better for the return to the Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2010.

As the crew chief for the newly-crowned four-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion, Knaus remains more focused on the No. 48 Chevrolet than posing for pictures. His car was more than good enough during Sunday's Ford 400 - Johnson finished fifth when all he needed was a top-25 - but that's still not good enough.

"I think we can come back and win this race next year," he said.

The next two weeks will be busy for Knaus, Johnson and the rest of the Hendrick Motorsports team. Not only will they take a break for the holidays, they have to appear in Las Vegas next week for the awards banquet. After that, the shop will be full speed again getting ready for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 14.

"You know, I think that obviously initially I just got the gut‑wrenching feeling that 2010 is coming soon," Knaus said.

"I'm excited about next year. I think when you get on a wave like this and you get the momentum behind you, you don't want to stop. I think you get excited and you want to continue it on and it's easy to feed off of that fire once it starts to develop."

Johnson became the first driver in the sport's 62-year history to win four consecutive championships. His 141-point victory over Mark Martin was the biggest in his run of titles, and there's every reason to believe he will be just as good next year, if not better.

"They're not done yet," said race winner Denny Hamlin.

While the rest of the sport starts thinking of ways to catch Johnson in 2010, Knaus already has a plan in motion to keep the pressure on. There are two cars for the Daytona International Speedway in the final stages of preparation, and cars for races at the California Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway are finished.

"If we go out next year and we run competitive, that's what we want to," Knaus said. "If we can get ourselves in position to make the Chase, that's what we want to do. Once we make the Chase, then we'll worry about trying to win the championship.

"But to say that our sights are set any further than qualifying for the Daytona 500 next year, they're not. That's our first goal."

Hamlin's team beat Johnson in five of the 10 races in the Chase for the Championship. He also failed to finish three races during the playoffs. Hamlin said his team needs to concentrate on being consistent. If they accomplish that - and find a little more speed - they may be able to put some pressure on Johnson in his quest to win five championships in a row.

"So there's some things we need to do to be better, and I think this Chase has just made us stronger, because now I think everyone is focused and everyone is fired up about next year knowing that we're one of the few guys that can run with that 48 every single week," Hamlin said. "The 48 has been the standard and that's who we want to beat.

"We're going to be there. They haven't made any mistakes. Those are the guys we want to be. We have that strength. We can beat them."

Car owner Rick Hendrick signed Johnson to a three-year extension through the 2015 season before Sunday's race. Now he's working on a lifetime contract with Knaus. He wants to make sure this combination stays together for a long time.

Now that Johnson has one significant record, he wants more. He's now tied with teammate Jeff Gordon for third with the most championships in Sprint Cup Series history. His next goal is to catch, if not pass, the seven championships earned by legends Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

Knaus knows another three championships won't be easy. But like everyone else on Johnson's team, he's ready for the challenge.

"This sport is so, so difficult," he said. "It's a grueling, non‑forgiving sport, it really is. There's no concessions. Nobody is going to give you anything in this industry."