Avondale, Ariz. ? Nobody could touch Jeff Gordon in his prime, a three-year stretch when he won 33 races and consecutive championships.

That was almost 10 years ago, and few thought they’d ever see a driver capable of dominating the way Gordon once did.

Until Jimmie Johnson came along.

Johnson took command of the Nextel Cup championship Sunday, winning at Phoenix International Raceway to open a daunting lead over his teammate in the race to the title. It was his 10th victory of the season – most since Gordon won 13 in 1998 – and barring a collapse in next week’s finale, Johnson will become the first driver to win consecutive championships since Gordon did it in 1997 and 1998.

But Johnson doesn’t want to be compared to his mentor, the four-time series champion.

“I certainly don’t want to be called the next Jeff Gordon. I am Jimmie Johnson. I’ve always done it my way,” he said. “If you look at our driving styles, our setups, look at everything we do, we are on opposite ends. We do have some common interests, we are close friends.

“But I am not Jeff Gordon, so let’s just get that out of the way.”

No, he’s not Gordon. But his work on the track makes it impossible not to draw the comparisons.

The defending Nextel Cup champion, heads to next week’s season finale in Homestead, Fla., with a comfortable 86-point lead over Gordon. He needs to finish just 18th or better to win his second championship in just six seasons.

“It’s over. It’s over,” conceded Gordon. “Even if we win it, it’s because they have problems. While we’ll accept it, we don’t want to do it that way.

“Those guys have flat-out killed everybody. And you’ve got to give credit where credit is due.”