Shortly after winning the first of his record-equaling four Indy 500s in 1979, Rick Mears entertained a small group of writers in his garage.

Outside, a larger group of stunned media wondered how a desert racer could have won the world's grandest motorsports event. Inside, Mears talked about his credentials.

"Many people in racing have no idea how much you can learn in the desert," said Mears. "About handling, about the car, about adjusting what you are doing during a race.

"I'm not the only guy in the desert who could win in this series."

With that, Mears named names, including Ivan Stewart.

Now, fast forward to this season and what another driver, Jimmie Johnson, should accomplish Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

Just 11 years ago, Johnson had never driven a stock car. Now he's about to join Cale Yarborough (1976-78) as only the second driver in NASCAR history to win three straight Sprint Cup titles.

From where did Johnson come?

The desert.

"I learned a lot about me, how a car handles and how important it is to make adjustments while I was racing in the desert and in closed-course desert-style races," Johnson said recently.

"It doesn't all apply to what I am doing now. But the fundamentals do. If something's not working, you don't give up. You find a way to make it as good as possible. And you take what you've learned in one race and apply it to the next.

"If anything, the desert, and my mini-bike background earlier, gave me a lot of confidence in the skills I was developing and what I was feeling."

When you look at Johnson today — the total package — it is easy to see why he is the dominant driver in NASCAR. And you can see the value of his desert background.

Still, it's not Johnson alone. No doubt he is backed by a great organization in Hendrick Motorsports. And he and crew chief Chad Knaus are the perfect complements to each other.

Knaus, who will become the first crew chief in NASCAR history to win three Sprint Cup titles if Johnson succeeds, is the best at making mid-race changes.

But the reason he can easily make those changes is Johnson, who, from inside the car, is adroit at asking for the right adjustments.

Remember, this team struggled with the Car of Tomorrow at the beginning of this season. Now, they are unbeatable. And they have won championships during what amounts to three different technical eras — 2006 at the end of the "downforce car" era; 2007 during the transition to the COT; and (likely) 2008 with the COT.

Last weekend in Phoenix, the strength of the "48" package was evident in two events.

After winning the pole on Friday, Johnson didn't like the car while practicing Saturday in race trim. So he started calling in changes he wanted Knaus to make. Not one or two changes, mind you. Wholesale changes. Major adjustments.

"The crew was still working on the list this morning," Knaus said Sunday evening after Johnson won his seventh race of the season and his third in the Chase for the Championship. By the time the crew was finished working off Johnson's list, they had hit upon the dominant package.

Then came "the pass" with 94 laps to go.

Johnson was running second to Jamie McMurray on a restart. Going into the sharp first turn at Phoenix International Raceway, Johnson ran the high line to the outside of McMurray. Then Johnson cut across the track in the middle of the first turn and placed himself on the inside of McMurray.

That pass had a "wow factor." It's one thing to get a car to stick high or low in a turn. It's quite another to get it to stick high and low in the same turn complex in addition to making a pass.

Last week, Speed Channel commentator and former Sprint Cup crew chief Larry McReynolds was asked why Johnson's team is so good.

"I don't want to praise Johnson and the 48 team to death," said McReynolds. "But to not do it is like trying to ignore the elephant in the living room. What they're doing is unbelievable.

"Despite their sizable points margin, they're still trying to lead every lap and win races. That is their mentality and what makes them so good. Johnson and Knaus are spot-on ... flawless. You have to dig pretty darn deep to find any weakness in that team.

"I'd say Jimmie's chances of making it four, or five, straight are about as good as making it three straight."

Last week, Ray Evernham, a crew chief guru who helped Jeff Gordon win three of his first four titles, said Johnson deserves to be ranked among the top five drivers of all time if he completes the three-peat.

Top five ever?

Let's see ... David Pearson, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Yarborough and Gordon are the drivers most often mentioned in that circle.

Very fast company.

Bill Center writes about motorsports for The San Diego Union-Tribune. Contact him at bill.center@uniontrib.com.

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