in 2002, johnson started racing full time in the winston cup series. johnson finished the season 5th in the points standings, and had won 3 races. in 2003 johnson once again won 3 races, had 14 top-five finishes and 20 top-ten finishes. he finished the season second in the winston cup series points standings to matt kenseth. in 2004 johnson had 8 wins, 20 top-fives, 23 top-tens and he finished the year 2nd in the point standings. in 2005 johnson stayed in the top five in the points standings all year, winning 4 races. he finished the 2005 season 5th in the nextel cup series points.