Johnson expecting Roush challenge

Although he is still uncertain about how strong everyone will be once the season starts to unfold due to the testing ban put in place by NASCAR, Johnson says that those teams who were strong in the last part of 2008 will remain the top challengers, at least in the early part of the year.

The Californian predicts the Roush Fenway cars led by series runner-up Carl Edwards will be particularly fast once the season enters the intermediate tracks following the Daytona 500.

"Without the testing I feel that no-one really knows who's going to be strong," Johnson said. "The big teams all have this technology in the shops with seven-post rigs and simulation windtunnels that it's going to be interesting to see in this first quarter how much of an advantage that stuff is.

"But I'm not really sure. I think with no testing nobody has an idea and I would look back and see who was strong in the end last year to kind of rank things from that. So I expect a bunch of those Roush cars were very fast.

"There are some other teams as well, but I think the No.16 (Greg Biffle) and the No.17 (Matt Kenseth) and the No.99 (Carl Edwards), those guys were all really strong so I think out of the gate, California and Vegas we're going to be dealing with the Roush cars."

Despite the threat of the Roush Fords, Johnson is optimistic about his chances of winning an unprecedented fourth consecutive championship this year. He expects to be peaking again by the time the Chase starts, giving him yet another shot at clinching the title in the final ten races.

"I do feel that we have a very good chance of winning a fourth championship," he said. "We have the tools. If we can be organised and composed come September like we've done the last three years, I think we really have a chance.

"If you show up to the Chase trying to catch up you've got your hands full and you have to count on what's coming your way. The last three years we've been ready for the Chase, we've been ready to go out and race for wins."

Johnson will kick off his NASCAR year by competing in this weekend's Bud Shootout, where he doesn't expect to get a true picture of how the first part of the season will go. He believes the impact of the testing ban on the pecking order will only show after Daytona.

"We're pretty restricted on the plate stuff in general and what we can do so, I don't think there's going to be a ton to learn from a technical standpoint," Johnson said.

"I think in the first practice we're going to give each other a lot of room because we haven't been in the car in months so there will be some subtle differences there but I still think that for Daytona and how tight the things are that it's not going to affect the overall show.

"When we get to California and Vegas, I think that more of the testing ban will show there. If it is the great equaliser it will be obvious or if it separates us more it'll be obvious too."

The current champion has only won at Daytona twice. The first time was in the 2005 Bud Shootout, and the second a year later when he won the season-opening Daytona 500 before winning his first title.