NASCAR: Johnson wins third straight Cup title

[Plex]

Jimmie Johnson claimed his third consecutive Sprint Cup Series title at Homestead where Carl Edwards did his best to challenge the reigning champion by winning the race.

Johnson only needed a 36th place finish to take the title but he did more than that in what was a clever and very conservative drive to clinch the championship and match Cale Yarborough's feat of three consecutive titles from 30 years ago.

The Californian had started the race from 30th place but moved up the order to break into the top fifteen by the first quarter of the race and into the top ten halfway through.

He then got out of sequence with the leaders when he pitted for new tyres and fuel on lap 179 during the fifth caution of the day. Around 20 laps later the caution came out again and as the leaders took on four new tyres and fuel, Johnson took two and grabbed the lead.

After that he didn't try to resist Matt Kenseth's attack and gave up the lead sixty laps from then end. He was in position to score a top-five finish until the race turned into a fuel mileage contest up front.

Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus took the conservative route and pitted a few laps from the end for a splash of fuel. That put Johnson out of contention for victory but his 15th place finish was enough to clinch him the title despite his rival Carl Edwards winning the race.

"It is over," said Johnson, who gave team owner Rick Hendrick his eighth Cup title. "This night was good, we had a great race car. That is what made me most comfortable was the fact that we had a great racecar and I could pass people.

"There were some guys that were racing for next year, a spot in points or a job. I began to question some of the hard racing that went on throughout the lap-down guys, but we had a great car and made the most of it tonight.

"Once we got some clean air, we were able to run up front on two tyres and stay with those guys. For security (we) came in and got some fuel there at the end. We didn't need to risk it."

Carl Edwards did what he had to do to challenge Johnson for the championship in the last race by scoring his ninth victory of the season.

Edwards took the lead for the first time on lap 13 with a little help from his teammate Matt Kenseth, who was ahead at the time. He led all the way until the fourth caution of the day came out, when other cars jumped him in the pits by taking two new tyres to Edwards' four.

After that he recovered and moved towards the front of the field but would only claim back the lead when his teammate Matt Kenseth ran out of fuel in front of him with three laps remaining.

Some of the frontrunners stayed out in the closing laps gambling on fuel mileage but the risk didn't pay off for all of them as the race stayed under green for the last 56 laps, which was marginally more than what some of them could run on a full tank of fuel.

However it worked again for Edwards who coasted in the last few laps to score maximum points and Roush Fenway's sixth win at Homestead, also the fifth consecutive for his boss Jack Roush at the mile-and-a-half track.

"I'm sure glad we won today's race because it will make it a little bit easier to deal with the off-season and coming so close to that championship," said Edwards. "We ran really well this season and it's something I wanted to make sure my guys understood is they did their jobs.

"They did a great job and there were two races where we lost points. One was my mistake and one was a complete coincidence or freak accident with the ignition system, so my guys performed well enough to win a championship this season, and considering how well Jimmie performed, I don't think that's a small feat.

"So tonight was a lot of fun. I'm glad that we won the race so that we can go into the off-season knowing we won more races than anyone else in this series."

Kevin Harvick finished a distant second despite having more fuel on board than Edwards in the end. The Richard Childress driver was one of a few who pitted for fuel during the last caution of the day but he was too far behind in the end to challenge Edwards.

Jamie McMurray finished third while Gordon, running the same strategy as Harvick, was fourth, ending a fourteen-year streak of winning at least one race every season, the Hendrick driver winless for the first time since 1994. Clint Bowyer, the new Nationwide Series champion, rounded out the top five.

Tony Stewart wanted to wrap up his days as a Joe Gibbs Racing driver with their 34th victory together but in the end he had to do with a ninth-place finish after leading the race late before being forced to pit for fuel a few laps from the end.

Scott Speed finished just behind the champion in 16th place while his teammate Brian Vickers was 32nd, which was enough to get the No. 84 Red Bull car back in the top-35 in the owners' standing, securing it a spot on the grid for the first five races of 2009. Finishing ahead of both Red Bull cars was the team's former driver AJ Allmendinger in eleventh.

Regan Smith finished 34th and secured Rookie of the Year honours, beating Sam Hornish, who failed to qualify for the season finale.

Pos Driver Car Laps
1. Carl Edwards Ford 267
2. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 267
3. Jamie McMurray Ford 267
4. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 267
5. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 267
6. Kasey Kahne Dodge 267
7. Travis Kvapil Ford 267
8. Casey Mears Chevrolet 267
9. Tony Stewart Toyota 267
10. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 267
11. A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 267
12. Bill Elliott Ford 267
13. Denny Hamlin Toyota 267
14. Scott Riggs Chevrolet 267
15. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 267
16. Scott Speed Toyota 267
17. Juan Montoya Dodge 267
18. Greg Biffle Ford 267
19. Kyle Busch Toyota 266
20. David Reutimann Toyota 266
21. Ryan Newman Dodge 266
22. Dave Blaney Toyota 266
23. Brad Keselowski Chevrolet 266
24. David Ragan Ford 266
25. Matt Kenseth Ford 266
26. Robby Gordon Dodge 266
27. David Gilliland Ford 266
28. Elliott Sadler Dodge 266
29. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 266
30. Paul Menard Chevrolet 266
31. Reed Sorenson Dodge 266
32. Brian Vickers Toyota 265
33. Bobby Labonte Dodge 265
34. Regan Smith Chevrolet 265
35. Aric Almirola Chevrolet 265
36. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 264
37. Tony Raines Chevrolet 264
38. Michael Waltrip Toyota 264
39. Chad McCumbee Dodge 263
40. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 259
41. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 246
42. Marcos Ambrose Toyota 222
43. Kurt Busch Dodge 207

Chase For The Cup - Final Standing:

Pos Driver Change Points
1. Jimmie Johnson 6684
2. Carl Edwards 6615 + 69
3. Greg Biffle 6467 +217
4. Kevin Harvick +1 6408 +276
5. Clint Bowyer +1 6381 +303
6. Jeff Burton -2 6335 +349
7. Jeff Gordon 6316 +368
8. Denny Hamlin +1 6214 +470
9. Tony Stewart +3 6202 +482
10. Kyle Busch +1 6186 +498
11. Matt Kenseth -3 6184 +500
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr -2 6127 +557

Autosport