ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Now that the business of the final Winston Cup championship has been settled, Sunday's Ford 400 season finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway takes on a role of dual importance.

First, it will ultimately determine who will be forever listed in NASCAR history as the final Winston Cup runner-up to champion Matt Kenseth.

Second, it also will go a long way toward setting the tone and establishing momentum for some teams heading into the 2004 campaign.

Jimmie Johnson's runner-up finish in Sunday's Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 at North Carolina Speedway allowed him to regain the No. 2 spot behind Kenseth, knocking Dale Earnhardt Jr. back to third place. Ryan Newman, who sat on the pole and finished fifth Sunday, also moved up, dislodging Jeff Gordon from fourth and back to fifth.

As it stands now, Johnson leads Earnhardt Jr. by 38 points. Newman trails Johnson by 103 points, Gordon is a distant 137 points back and Kevin Harvick is still mathematically in contention, albeit by a virtually impossible margin to make up (167 points back) short of Johnson, Earnhardt, Newman and Gordon all somehow failing to race at Homestead.

"We're trying to get to second place in the points and Junior has been extremely consistent," Johnson said. "I know he's going to be tough at Homestead. Ryan will be tough. It's going to be a battle at the end. I'm not sure how it's all shaking out here, but I think we've probably got a top-five (season finish) guaranteed with a little breathing room right now over third. We're just going to go down there and put in another solid day and try to be second in points."

That means Johnson will race at Homestead the same way he did Sunday at Rockingham and the other 34 preceding races.

"Really, I've felt like the championship has been decided for eight to 10 weeks," Johnson said. "So from the No. 48 standpoint, we're just going to do the same thing."

Of course, the $1.6 million difference in overall prize money between runner-up and fifth-place in the final standings is a pretty strong incentive in itself, as well.

	Johnson, right, and Newman will be among the '04 title favorites.

Earnhardt Jr. also has his sights set on that bigger payout that also comes with finishing No. 2. It would help him erase some of the bad memories from 2002, a season marred by a poor start, followed by the ensuing controversy over racing for nearly three months while still recovering from a concussion, a secret he kept hidden from pretty much everyone, including his team and doctors.

"Our ability to rack up some good stats, the numerous top-three finishes and the top-10s, being able to win at Phoenix and run well on the road courses, there's just so much that we've been able to accomplish this year," Earnhardt Jr. said. "If you made a list, we really were able to knock a lot of that out. And there's still some things unfinished and things we haven't improved upon."

Earnhardt Jr. is also looking for a quick off-season so that he can challenge Kenseth's defense of the championship next season. In head-to-head championships, Kenseth still trails Earnhardt Jr., however: Junior won the Busch Series title in both 1998 and 1999, while Kenseth finished second and third respectively in those seasons.

The two drivers have had similar development roads en route to where they're at today. Earnhardt considers Kenseth one of his best friends, but also knows there's no harm in some serious -- yet friendly -- competition between them.

"All things have a way of coming around, and I'm glad to be a part of it, even though I'll be on the losing end of it this time around," Earnhardt Jr. said of Kenseth's championship. "But a little, small part of me feels like I'm winning the championship, too, because me and him were so parallel in our Busch careers and we've become such good friends.

"Even though we're competitors, we learn from each other and we teach other things. It wouldn't bother me one bit (if he and Kenseth established one of the fiercest rivalries that Nextel Cup will see in the coming seasons), and I'm sure it wouldn't bother him, either. We love racing against each other."

The battle for second place won't be the only fight at Homestead. 2002 Winston Cup champ Tony Stewart is pretty much assured a seventh-place showing in the final standings, but teammate Bobby Labonte, who is one spot behind in eighth, will have to work hard in Florida to keep Sunday's winner Bill Elliott from overtaking him. Labonte currently leads Elliott by 46 points and No. 10 Kurt Busch by 102 points.

"It'll be interesting to see what the No. 17 (Kenseth's car) has at Homestead and whether or not they've been playing defense and taking care of things to see where they really fall into play for next year," Johnson said. "I don't think you can count out the No. 18 (Labonte) or the No. 20 (Stewart). Those guys haven't had the best year this year, but they're going to be tough, too. I think if you look inside the top six or seven in points, that's going to be where the battle is."

	“	All things have a way of coming around, and I'm glad to be a part of it, even though I'll be on the losing end of it this time around. But a little, small part of me feels like I'm winning the championship, too, because me and him were so parallel in our Busch careers and we've become such good friends. ”
		— Dale Earnhardt Jr.

While some might say this has been a defining year for drivers like Earnhardt Jr. and Newman, they don't look at it that way themselves, acknowledging their youthful success but also pointing toward their failures and hopes to reverse some of those bad fortunes next season.

"We haven't had that year yet," Earnhardt said. "I think we've still got even more and bigger things to accomplish. I think there's going to be a year down the road where we go, 'All right, that was the year where we made it to the top of the mountain."

Some observers felt Newman might have been able to steal the championship away from Kenseth had it not been for a horrible season start or if his series-leading eight wins and 11 poles carried more statistical weight.

"To me, this is what it is," Newman said. "We can't manipulate the point system in any way. We've had our failures this year and that's taken a lot of points away from us or however you want to word it. To me, to be a Winston Cup champion, you've got to have everything."

As for building upon a strong finish next Sunday and carrying that into next season, Johnson should be considered as one of the top contenders for the first Nextel Cup crown in 2004.

"I know next year is going to be a good year for us," Johnson said. "And as much as I'm looking forward to being a championship contender, I am not looking forward to the misery that vying for the championship can bring you throughout the year. It's going to be a tough year. You'd better be mentally ready for it. It takes everything to come into play."

Johnson, who finished fifth in last season's standings as a rookie, admits he's been fortunate not to have experienced NASCAR's so-called "sophomore jinx" that befell Newman several times earlier this season before he was able to shake it off and go on his torrid second-half season tear, including winning the pole for Sunday's race at Rockingham. The question is whether his good fortune -- he's been in the top-10 for 68 weeks now, dating back to April 2002 in Atlanta -- will continue.

"One thing for me is I've always moved into a new division after two years," he laughed about his racing career development. "So maybe my junior year (in Cup racing) will be the problem. I don't know."

As the guy to beat heading into Homestead rather than Kenseth, you can bet Johnson's opponents are certainly hoping for that, for sure.

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Motorsportwriter@MSN.com.