Denny Hamlin wins the season finale

Jimmie Johnson finishes fifth at Homestead to clinch his history-making fourth consecutive Cup Series championship. In the 61 year’s history of Nascar, it is the first time that a driver wins four championship in a row.

Johnson needed only to finish 25th or better to beat teammate Mark Martin in the race, won by Denny Hamlin, to give team owner Rick Hendrick his own NASCAR record, a 12th championship.

 By any measure of the term, the “Jimmie Johnson Dynasty” began in 2002, four years before he hoisted his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series trophy.

Four near-championships in his first four seasons, including two runner-up finishes, gave way to an unprecedented four straight NASCAR Sprint Cup titles from 2006-2009.

Johnson’s ongoing string of success is not only impressive as it relates to its place in NASCAR history; it stands up against the greatest sporting achievements of all time. 

Johnson did better than that in a sometimes-testy Sunday drive into history. He was at times annoyed at rival drivers and even Jeff Gordon, the mentor and teammate who helped him land his job with Hendrick Motorsports.

Nobody gave Johnson anything, either. The other drivers raced hard around him all day, making Johnson earn every point while sending Martin to a fifth runner-up finish in the final standings.

Hendrick absent from title clincher with family issue

Niece in critical condition awaiting liver transplant. Rick Hendrick will not be at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday to see his race team make history.

The car owner, guaranteed of his ninth Cup championship and 12th NASCAR national division title regardless of what happens in the season’s final race, has returned to North Carolina to be with a niece who is in critical condition and being prepared for a liver transplant at a North Carolina hospital.

Hendrick’s niece, 29-year-old Alesha Gainey, is the daughter of John Hendrick, who died along with nine others in the crash of a Hendrick Motorsports airplane en route to Martinsville Speedway in October of 2004. Gainey’s sisters Jennifer and Kimberly also were among the victims of the accident.

“Rick obviously wishes that he could be here,” said Hendrick general manager Marshall Carlson. “He’s incredibly proud of the accomplishments of the team, and has asked me to personally express his total confidence in their capabilities.”

” They know exactly what needs to be done, and they know how to do it. Rick’s priority at this point is supporting his family at this critical time. Again, he wishes he could be here. He’s so proud of the teams. But he needs to be back in North Carolina with his niece and her family.”

Jimmie Johnson leads Hendrick teammate Mark Martin by 108 points entering Sunday’s event, and needs a 25th-place finish to clinch his fourth consecutive series title. Either way, Hendrick is ensured of his 12th championship in NASCAR’s national divisions, which will give him one more than Richard Childress.

More to come…with team and driver comments…

Result of Sprint Cup Ford 400

pos	St	No	Driver	car           Â	sponsor	pts/bns	laps	status
1	38	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Express	195/10	267	Running
2	26	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Caterpillar	175/5	267	Running
3	6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Shell / Pennzoil	170/5	267	Running
4	12	2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	Miller Lite	165/5	267	Running
5	1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe’s  (2009 champion)	160/5	267	Running
6	20	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	150/0	267	Running
7	24	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Aflac	146/0	267	Running
8	30	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	M&M’s	147/5	267	Running
9	14	1	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Tracker	138/0	267	Running
10	13	44	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	Ford. Drive one.	134/0	267	Running
11	10	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	Cheerios / Hamburger Helper	135/5	267	Running
12	4	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	Kellogg’s / Carquest	127/0	267	Running
13	34	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	Dewalt	124/0	267	Running
14	8	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	3M	121/0	267	Running
15	22	00	David Reutimann	Toyota	Aaron’s Dream Machine	118/0	267	Running
16	9	21	Bill Elliott	Ford	Motorcraft	115/0	267	Running
17	25	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	Budweiser	112/0	267	Running
18	11	26	Jamie McMurray	Ford	Crown Royal	109/0	267	Running
19	15	07	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel’s	106/0	267	Running
20	33	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	Red Bull	103/0	267	Running
21	29	77	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	Mobil 1	100/0	267	Running
22	5	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Office Depot / Old Spice	102/5	267	Running
23	7	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	U.S. Army / All-American Bowl	94/0	267	Running
24	35	20	Joey Logano *	Toyota	Home Depot	91/0	267	Running
25	27	12	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	Penske Racing	88/0	267	Running
26	36	98	Paul Menard	Ford	Johns Manville / Menards	85/0	267	Running
27	2	82	Scott Speed *	Toyota	Red Bull	82/0	267	Running
28	32	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	National Guard / Amp Energy	79/0	267	Running
29	17	202	David Gilliland	Toyota	Farm Bureau Insurance	76/0	267	Running
30	39	55	Michael Waltrip	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	78/5	267	Running
31	19	171	Bobby Labonte	Chevrolet	TaxSlayer.com	70/0	267	Running
32	16	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	Furniture Row Companies	67/0	267	Running
33	40	34	John Andretti	Chevrolet	Taco Bell / ETA Shuttle	64/0	267	Running
34	41	6	David Ragan	Ford	UPS	61/0	267	Running
35	3	47	Marcos Ambrose	Toyota	Little Debbie Cupcakes / Kingsford / Clorox	63/5	251	Running
36	31	96	Erik Darnell	Ford	Hall of Fame Racing	55/0	247	Running
37	28	37	Travis Kvapil	Chevrolet	Miccosukee Resort & Gaming	52/0	243	Running
38	23	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	Target	49/0	235	Running
39	37	7	Robby Gordon	Toyota	Mapei / Menards	46/0	227	Running
40	42	43	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	Siemens	43/0	116	In Pit
41	21	19	Elliott Sadler	Dodge	Best Buy	40/0	116	In Pit
42	43	08	Terry Labonte	Toyota	FanCar	37/0	88	Out of Race
43	18	36	Michael McDowell	Toyota	Wave Energy Drink	34/0	35	In