There's no dynasty in NASCAR

After 35 races, thousands of miles on the track and a new Chase for the Nextel Cup format, the NASCAR season all comes down Sunday’s Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and two drivers: teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

Though one wrong twist of the steering wheel can change the outcome of the Chase for the Cup, this is certain: Hendrick Motorsports will win its second consecutive Nextel Cup championship.

To say that Johnson and Gordon have dominated is a bit of an understatement. The duo has combined to win 16 of the 35 races, and all Johnson has to do is finish better than 18th on Sunday and he’ll win the sport’s most coveted trophy for the second consecutive year.

His title, coupled with a second-place finish by Johnson, could start fans referring to the Henderick organization with the dreaded D-word: Dynasty.

And for good reason — owner Rick Hendrick has done an incredible job putting together what is currently the best organization in the sport. However, his organization’s level of success, though, has some people worried that the future of NASCAR is in jeopardy, fearing Hendrick’s stable of talented drivers will make the races less competitive. Instead of 43 racers driving for the checkered flag, Henderick’s stable, which will include Dale Earnhardt Jr., could turn into a three-man show.

But don’t worry, it won’t happen. History says so. NASCAR fans said the same thing about Gibbs Racing when they won two championships in three seasons with Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart in 2000 and 2002. Gibbs ability to bring together the right combination of personnel at the shop and on the track made them, for a brief time, look just as unstoppable as Johnson and Gordon are now.

But Instead of Gibbs Racing leaving the rest of the competition behind, the organization simply provided the new standard by which an teams work together. It’s a lesson Hendrick Motorsports learned.

“The whole reason we wanted to bring [the No. 48] team on is because we looked at the way Gibbs was doing it,” Gordon said, “He had two teams under one roof.”

Just when people started wondering if Gibbs could be consistently beaten, Roush Racing stole the spotlight by winning back-to-back championships in 2003 and 2004, then winning 15 races and placing all five of their teams in the Chase in the following season.

Other teams were so scared of Roush, in fact, that NASCAR imposed a four-car limit on all organizations. However, Roush’s secret of success was its drivers shared information, and as soon as other organizations did the same practice, Roush’s advantage was gone.

“Of the 95 people in that one building, about 70 of them work on both cars,” Hendrick said of the No. 24 and No. 48 teams. “They have continued to share [information], the crew chiefs are sharing. The organization has really worked hard.”

Notice a pattern? Like Gibbs and Roush before them, Hendrick has found that magic combination of the right people, the right equipment and the best information and parlayed it into a terrific season.

But just as they have learned from the dominant organizations that came before them, it is inevitable an opposing team will learn from — and eventually surpass — Hendrick Motorsports. It’s just the nature of the sport.

So after this weekend, you can call Hendrick Motorsports dominant, innovative or even one of the best organizations in NASCAR history — just don’t call it a dynasty.

Get up to speed on the latest in NASCAR - listen to Wilson's Race Report every weeknight at 8:25 on 93.1 WPOC.