ALLENTOWN, Pa. Did you really think Jimmie Johnson was going to run away with the championship? If you did, you haven't been paying attention.

He could have won the title in 2003 if Matt Kenseth hadn't been so red hot in the middle of the season. Johnson tallied more points than anyone else in the final 10 races. Unfortunately for him, the Chase for the Nextel Cup hadn't yet been conceived by Brian France. Kenseth won the championship. Johnson finished second.

He would have run away with the 2004 title, except by then the Chase was a reality, and Kurt Busch figured it out best. Despite having five more wins, 10 more top-5s and two more top-10s than Busch, Johnson finished second.

He sprinted out well ahead of the field in the run for the 2005 title, until Tony Stewart's crew "hit on something" at Michigan. That spawned a streak of 13 straight top-10 finishes, including five trips to Victory Lane, and reeled in Johnson. Stewart finished first, Johnson, who was second going into the season finale, wound up fifth after crashing at Homestead-Miami.

Now, Johnson is once again the leader of the pack. He has as many wins (four) as anyone else and four more top-10s (18) than his closest challenger. Yet he's only seven points in the clear — not of Stewart, who hasn't mounted a challenge this season, and not of Busch, who's already been mathematically eliminated, but of Kenseth, who after spending two years as a spectator, has come back to mount a vicious challenge.

This is what has to frustrate Johnson the most. His challengers come and go, but they always leave with the hardware, leaving him with another heartbreak.

With just two races left before the field is set for the Chase, and with the tour heading to California, here are three questions to ponder:

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Should Johnson be scared of Kenseth?Yes.Before reading what Matt Kenseth had to say after winning last Sunday's race at Bristol, consider the following: Per NASCAR's rules for the Chase, any driver within 400 points of the leader after 26 races qualifies for the playoff. In 2003, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second after 26 races — 418 points behind Kenseth.Now the quote: "I think this is probably our best chance to ever win (a championship). I think our chance is much better as far as pure performance than what it was in 2003."•

Which track is least deserving of a second race?California Speedway.Estimates are that 78,000 fans attended the February race. That leaves 14,000 empty seats. NASCAR isn't about to take away a date from the biggest market in which it races. Still, it's fun to speculate. Kentucky Speedway, situated about halfway between Louisville and Cincinnati, has been clamoring for a date.•

Can Kasey Kahne catch up?Yes, but he won't.It's not how much Kahne trails by, it's whom — Mark Martin (-90), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (-92) and Tony Stewart (-97).Junior hasn't fared well at California (21.2 average finish), but he's money at Richmond (9.4), where the tour heads next weekend. The same goes for Stewart (18.7 at California, 11.7 at Richmond)."We've got to finish in the top two or three in the next two races probably if we want to get in there, if nobody else has a bad race," Kahne said. "I said two or three weeks ago that the 8 (Earnhardt Jr.) is not going to be the guy I'm going to pass. I knew he was going to be good at Michigan. He was good there at the start of the year. He was good at California and Bristol and he's always good at Richmond."That leaves Martin and Stewart.Two years ago, Martin headed to California tied for 12th in the standings. All he did was finish third there, then take fifth at Richmond, qualifying him eighth for the Chase. Stewart, meanwhile, is the defending series champion. Neither is putting together back-to-back finishes of 29th or worse, which is about what Kahne would need.