For the record, this has gotten entirely out of hand.

What started as a youth movement could become an all-out coup if Jimmie Johnson has his say. The rookie, who is seven points ahead of Ryan Newman in the rookie of the year race, is only 93 points behind points leader Sterling Marlin in the championship race.

He's been in the top five of the standings for most of the season and seems to be done knocking on the door. He's banging at it, now, sitting at second. If he keeps it up, he could become the first rookie in the modern-era to win a Winston Cup title.

"I'm not looking at that right now," a smiling Johnson said. But that's a programmed answer. EVERYBODY is looking that far ahead this late in the season. And, by looking at his performance at the tracks NASCAR has yet to visit, Johnson's got a lot to look forward to.

There are 10 tracks left in the season that the Winston Cup Series has already visited once this year. Of those 10, Johnson has top-10s at five of them and a victory at one. Jeff Gordon, co-owner of his No. 48 Chevy, thinks that's reason enough to believe Johnson could win a championship.

"Why not?" Gordon said. "He's run well everywhere we've gone, just about, and he's right there in position that, if Sterling has a couple of bad races and Jimmie can take advantage, he can make a run."

Were Johnson to actually pull this off, he'd be beating out some of the sports' well-known veterans.

"The young guys are really coming on good; the rookies seem to run good everywhere they go," Marlin said. "Us old guys are going to have to step it up a little bit."

Dodge driver Bill Elliott has led that charge, winning back-to-back races going into this weekend's race at Watkins Glen, N.Y.

	Jimmie Johnson, left, has had Jeff Gordon, right, as a mentor during his rookie season.

"I feel like I've had a second chance at life," Elliott said. "Every bit of the struggles and trials and tribulations we went through in the 90s, I'm glad I stuck through it."

Although Elliott says his struggles have helped him appreciate his recent success, Johnson wouldn't mind having the success without the struggle.

Johnson's close to the top of the standings, but there are several chasers close to catching him. Mark Martin is third in the standings just 16 points away and Gordon is fourth just 32 points behind his driver.

All of which has got Johnson hoping for a good run at the Watkins Glen road course this weekend.

"I like tracks like Watkins Glen," he said. "Road courses are much closer to the kind of tracks that I grew up racing on. Passing is one of the most important things to concern yourself with at a track like Watkins Glen. You can sometimes spend seven to ten laps just setting someone up for a pass, whereas at other tracks you can make two or three moves within one lap."

It's mostly theory, though, when Johnson speaks of keys to winning at Watkins Glen.

"I don't have a lot of seat time in a Cup car there," he said, "so I imagine I'll struggle a bit getting passes done. But if I can hang in there and force a few people to make mistakes, it could be a good run for Team Lowe's Racing.

"To be successful this weekend I have to be patient. ... It's a matter of getting into a rhythm and setting a good pace. It's easy to beat up your brakes there, so again, remaining patient, along with establishing good track position, are key. If we can do both of those things and make the proper adjustments along the way, then we should post another strong finish."

And take another step in a strong run at the championship.

Rupen Fofaria is a beat writer for the Raleigh News & Observer.