Is Brad Keselowski's championship a watershed event in NASCAR racing?

Brad Keselowski is a breakthrough champion in a sport where breakthroughs are anything but commonplace. Does his march to the title signal a new era in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing, or is it merely a speed bump in Jimmie Johnson's road to immortality? History suggests that the former might be the case. A first-time champion in a season that produced no first-time race winners, Keselowski is the third driver in the modern era to win NASCAR's most coveted title within three years of full-time Cup racing. The two drivers who preceded him in that regard have left an indelible impression on the sport. Dale Earnhardt won the Cup championship in 1980, a year after claiming rookie of the year honors. Earnhardt won six more championships over the next 14 years and ended his career with 76 victories. Jeff Gordon won the title in 1995 in his third season of full-time Cup racing. Gordon was champion three more times in the following six years and is still writing his legacy. With 87 ...