No. 4 for Johnson: Sprint Cup season comes to an end

All Jimmie Johnson ever wanted was a chance to race with the best in NASCAR. Maybe even win a race or two.

He never expected to be a champion, especially four times over.

Johnson bulldozed his way into the record books by becoming the first driver in NASCAR history to win four consecutive championships, finishing fifth in yesterday's season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He joins Richard Petty (7), Dale Earnhardt (7) and teammate Jeff Gordon (4) as the only drivers to win more than three titles.

"To do something that's never been done in the sport, and love the sport like I do and respect it like I do and the greats -- Petty, Earnhardt, Gordon -- to do something they have never done is so awesome," Johnson said. "And to win four championships in eight years, what this team has done -- this is unbelievable."

Johnson now stands atop NASCAR as a one-man dynasty, but he hasn't been feted under a blizzard of confetti by himself. His mighty Hendrick Motorsports team rules Sprint Cup racing.

Johnson's title gave a record 12th overall championship to team owner Rick Hendrick, who was in North Carolina with a niece who had emergency liver surgery during the race. In his absence, the team took the top three spots in the final standings, with Mark Martin second, and Gordon third.

"I feel really, really blessed to have had a chance," Martin said.

There seems to be plenty of chances left for Johnson's tag-team with crew chief Chad Knaus to keep the No. 48 in championship contention for years to come. Johnson, a 34-year-old Californian, signed a five-year contract extension Friday to drive for Hendrick through 2015, and Knaus has insisted that the team can keep this pace for the next several years.

"He's not done yet," Martin said.

Johnson never let up in pursuit of the championship, even though he needed only to finish 25th or better to get yesterday. He pushed for all 400 miles and even threatened to try to run down the leaders to better his eventual fifth-place finish.

"History, boys," he shouted as he crossed the finish line. "How about some history."

Upon leaving his car in Victory Lane, Johnson first thanked the fans, tears sparkling in his eyes.

"Man, it's going to take a while to sink in," he said.

It was a sometimes testy drive into history for Johnson, who was at times was annoyed at rival drivers and even Gordon, the mentor and teammate who helped him land his job with Hendrick.

Nobody gave Johnson anything, either. The other drivers raced hard around him all day, making Johnson earn every point in a race won by Denny Hamlin, who established himself as a driver to watch in 2010 by winning a career-high four races this season.

Hamlin also managed to keep pace with Johnson at times but fell out of contention with three DNFs.

That won't get it done against Johnson and Knaus, who won seven races this season and, as usual, turned it up a notch when the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship started.

Johnson had four of his wins in the Chase and played it safe only once, at Talladega when he ran near the back of the field most of the day to avoid trouble at the Alabama track.

Only the joke was on him when his problems popped up a week later, at Texas, where he was wrecked on the third lap and lost 111 points from his cushion over Martin. It still left him with a cozy 78-point margin headed into last weekend's race at Phoenix, where he probably could have laid back and protected his lead.

Instead, he pounced and earned a dominating victory that set the stage for an easy final race.

Of course, he instead went hard. After several tense laps chasing Gordon for fifth place -- Johnson at one point complained over his radio "I let him go, now why won't he just go somewhere," -- he asked Knaus if he had enough time to catch Hamlin and the leaders.

Johnson didn't like being told no by his crew chief. "Is that a dare?" he asked Knaus.

"No. That is a fact," Knaus replied.

So is Johnson's place in history, which seems to be undervalued despite 47 victories since 2002. He has never finished lower than fifth in the final standings and actually had a shot at winning the championship in 2004 and 2005 -- only to fall short in the finale.

"Jimmie is an incredible, incredible talent. He is the most underrated driver in this garage," Knaus said. "That guy can do things in a racecar that I've never seen before. I hope this proves it to everybody."

His competitors insist that time will take care of Johnson's legacy, but they marvel at his success.

"If you would have told me four years ago that someone would win four championships in a row, I would have told you you were crazy," said Jeff Burton, who finished second.

Even Gordon, who won four quick titles early in his career but has been shut out since 2001, is impressed.

"As a competitor, that Johnson ticks me off. As a friend, teammate, fellow car owner, they're amazing," Gordon said. "I never thought in my career, in my lifetime, I'd see somebody win four in a row. To see it happening right in front of your eyes makes it even more extraordinary."

Ford 400 results

(Yesterday; At Homestead-Miami Speedway)

Fin. St. Driver Car Laps Rat. Pts. Money

1. 38 Denny Hamlin Toyota 267 123.1 195 347,975

2. 26 Jeff Burton Chevy 267 121.8 175 273,631

3. 6 Kevin Harvick Chevy 267 126.7 170 228,128

4. 12 Kurt Busch Dodge 267 123.2 165 157,275

5. 1 Jimmie Johnson Chevy 267 116.0 160 189,401

6. 20 Jeff Gordon Chevy 267 105.2 150 141,251

7. 24 Carl Edwards Ford 267 86.1 146 144,981

8. 30 Kyle Busch Toyota 267 102.9 147 130,623

9. 14 Martin Truex Jr. Chevy 267 98.0 138 116,465

10. 13 AJ Allmendinger Ford 267 86.9 134 79,400

11. 10 Clint Bowyer Chevy 267 102.5 135 82,975

12. 4 Mark Martin Chevy 267 92.8 127 82,475

13. 34 Matt Kenseth Ford 267 71.7 124 118,015

14. 8 Greg Biffle Ford 267 83.0 121 90,025

15. 22 David Reutimann Toyota 267 81.2 118 101,573

16. 9 Bill Elliott Ford 267 67.3 115 69,800

17. 25 Kasey Kahne Dodge 267 75.3 112 111,698

18. 11 Jamie McMurray Ford 267 79.1 109 81,400

19. 15 Casey Mears Chevy 267 74.4 106 86,850

20. 33 Brian Vickers Toyota 267 65.9 103 100,748

21. 29 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 267 70.6 100 90,860

22. 5 Tony Stewart Chevy 267 88.7 102 90,098

23. 7 Ryan Newman Chevy 267 77.0 94 100,054

24. 35 Joey Logano Toyota 267 64.0 91 116,626

25. 27 Brad Keselowski Dodge 267 58.4 88 103,440

26. 36 Paul Menard Ford 267 50.6 85 101,031

27. 2 Scott Speed Toyota 267 51.7 82 84,898

28. 32 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy 267 61.4 79 85,425

29. 17 David Gilliland Toyota 267 51.0 76 66,725

30. 39 Michael Waltrip Toyota 266 39.1 78 78,100

31. 19 Bobby Labonte Chevy 266 42.9 70 69,300

32. 16 Regan Smith Chevy 266 40.8 67 69,075

33. 40 John Andretti Chevy 266 31.9 64 78,325

34. 41 David Ragan Ford 266 47.9 61 73,675

35. 3 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 251 53.3 63 77,548

36. 31 Erik Darnell Ford 247 38.2 55 92,879

37. 28 Travis Kvapil Chevy 243 29.7 52 65,050

38. 23 Juan Montoya Chevy 235 68.2 49 99,423

39. 37 Robby Gordon Toyota 227 40.5 46 83,410

40. 42 Reed Sorenson* Dodge 116 36.5 43 101,776

Fin. St. Driver Car Laps Rat. Pts. Money

41. 21 Elliott Sadler* Dodge 116 29.4 40 72,215

42. 43 Terry Labonte* Toyota 88 23.8 37 63,915

43. 18 M. McDowell* Toyota 35 27.0 34 64,229

Race statistics

Winner's average speed: 126.986 mph. Race time: 3 hours, 6 minutes, 18 seconds. Margin of victory: 2.632 seconds. Caution flags: 7 for 31 laps. Lead changes: 18 among 10 drivers. Lap leaders: J. Johnson 1-9; M. Ambrose 10-13; J. Johnson 14-32; T. Stewart 33-52; Ku. Busch 53-54; C. Bowyer 55; K. Harvick 56-62; T. Stewart 63-85; K. Harvick 86-134; Ku. Busch 135-157; D. Hamlin 158-180; Ku. Busch 181-195; D. Hamlin 196-198; J. Burton 199-217; Ku. Busch 218; M. Waltrip 219; Ku. Busch 220-221; Ky. Busch 222; D. Hamlin 223-267. Leaders summary (driver, times led, laps led): D. Hamlin, 3 times for 71 laps; K. Harvick, 2 times for 56 laps; Ku. Busch, 5 times for 43 laps; T. Stewart, 2 times for 43 laps; J. Johnson, 2 times for 28 laps; J. Burton, 1 time for 19 laps; M. Ambrose, 1 time for 4 laps; Ky. Busch, 1 time for 1 lap; C. Bowyer, 1 time for 1 lap; M. Waltrip, 1 time for 1 lap.

* Did not finish

Reed Sorenson and Elliott Sadler (accidents); Terry Labonte (electrical); Michael McDowell (overheating)

Points leaders

1. J. Johnson, 6,652; 2. M. Martin, 6,511; 3. J. Gordon, 6,473; 4. Ku. Busch, 6,446; 5. D. Hamlin, 6,335; 6. T. Stewart, 6,309; 7. G. Biffle, 6,292; 8. J. Montoya, 6,252; 9. R. Newman, 6,175; 10. K. Kahne, 6,128; 11. C. Edwards, 6,118; 12. B. Vickers, 5,929.

Driver rating

A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race. The formula combines the following: wins, finishes, top-15 finishes, average running position while on lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most laps, lead-lap finish.