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AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Wait until next year is a phrase some former NASCAR champions use to describe Carl Edwards' Sprint Cup title chances.

Two former champs say Edwards won't stop Jimmie Johnson from winning his third consecutive title. Another suggests Edwards will snap Johnson's streak next year.

Johnson enters today's race at Phoenix International Raceway 106 points ahead of Edwards and 143 points ahead of Greg Biffle. Should both have problems, Johnson could clinch the title today.

Edwards' Chase has been maddening and magnificent. Mechanical issues, a mistake and a scuffle offset the daring moves and back-to-back wins.

Such inconsistency likely will keep Edwards from being saluted as Cup champion. While there is no set way to win a title -- "You can be as radical as you want as long as at the end of 10 weeks you have more points than everybody else,'' two-time champ Tony Stewart says -- Edwards' yo-yo Chase is not the blueprint.

He's twice finished 29th or worse in this Chase. Johnson's 15th-place finish last week at Texas was his worst showing in a Chase race in two years.

"I think it is going to be tough to make up the ground that he needs to make up without (Johnson) having a complete disastrous problem,'' says Kevin Harvick, a two-time Nationwide champ, of Edwards' chances.

"If you want to look at the difference between the two when you see the lows (with Johnson), you don't really notice them because they are not as low as most would people go when they have problems. When (Edwards) has had a problem, they have been failures."

Twin ignition problems sidelined Edwards for more than a dozen laps at Charlotte last month and cost him 96 points to Johnson. Edwards' tap of teammate Greg Biffle triggered a 12-car crash at Talladega. That led to a scuffle a week later with Harvick.

Offsetting those lows has been Edwards' aggressive nature. His brazen move to pass Johnson for the lead on the last lap at Kansas sent him into the wall and could have cost him more than a win. Instead, he held on to finish second.

"When it comes down to it, I'd rather do something and see what happens than to calculate and do whatever is safe,'' Edwards says.

That style has worked. He charged to wins the past two weeks at Atlanta and Texas, grabbing the lead within the last 20 laps of each race. Former champ Rusty Wallace expects Edwards to carry that momentum and narrow Johnson's lead today. So, will Edwards win the title?

"No, I don't think he's going to win it,'' Wallace says.

Jeff Gordon leans toward Johnson, his teammate, to win this title, but the four-time champion says that Edwards has the makeup to win a championship.

"The incident at Talladega was a real learning experience for him,'' Gordon says. "Other than that, I think he's been spot-on. I think Carl has the maturity and the experience to win this championship and if he doesn't win it this year, it's only going to make him stronger next year.''

Dale Earnhardt Jr., also Johnson's teammates, goes one step further. While Edwards isn't likely to win the title this year, the future looks better, according to the former Nationwide champ.

"I know Jimmie is not sitting absolutely comfortable at this point and that's because of Carl and his ability to really make anything happen at any time,'' Earnhardt says.

"You probably have to lose one to win one anyways. Maybe if Carl doesn't win this championship this year this would be the perfect experience for him to understand how he has to do it next year and he would be probably be my top pick going into Daytona.'

Edwards came close in 2005, finishing 35 points behind Stewart for the crown that year. To wait until next year is too long for Edwards, who is focused on today and what it could mean for tomorrow.

"I think that definitely Jimmie and those guys are aware of where we're at, and we've been closing points,'' Edwards says. "If I were in their position, I'd be nervous because everybody sees how this sport can go and in a matter of a week or two weeks, things can change dramatically.''

It's a lesson Edwards has learned this year, one that might help him to a future title.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com