Johnson wins Nextel Cup
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Matt Kenseth made the most of his fighting chance, coming up with the strong performance he’d been missing in the last few races of this Chase for the championship.
He wound up 56 points short of the title with a sixth-place finish.
Denny Hamlin (third) and Kevin Harvick (fifth) also raced well Sunday, finishing where they needed to – ahead of Jimmie Johnson.
Still, it wasn’t even close.
Turns out, Johnson was unbeatable after all.
Johnson went into Sunday’s season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway 63 points ahead of Kenseth, and needed only to finish in the top 12 to wrap up his first Cup title.
Ninth place did the trick.
Johnson overcame his typical Chase luck – damage from a piece of debris, a messed-up pit stop, plenty of wrecks in his path – to take the title after falling short twice before.
A quartet of drivers who went into the race with a mathematical chance of overtaking the leader gave it a great effort, with Kenseth, Hamlin and Harvick finishing ahead of Johnson and the other contender, Dale Earnhardt Jr., leading the race early before running into problems and winding up 19th.
Kenseth, the 2003 Cup champion, didn’t appear the least disappointed after finishing sixth in the race and holding off rookie Hamlin for the runner-up spot by just 12 points. It was only the third top-five finish in the 10-race Chase for the championship for Kenseth.
Earnhardt, the fan favorite, started the race fifth in the points and ended in the same spot. “I’m real proud of my team,” Junior said. “They’ve got a lot to be happy about with what they’ve been able to accomplish this year, the cars they’ve been able to build.
Ford 400
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (22) Greg Biffle, Ford, 268 laps, 125.375 mph., $323,800. 2. (20) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 268, $260,458. 3. (33) Denny Hamlin, Chevrolet, 268, $183,500. 4. (1) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 268, $190,689. 5. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 268, $157,586. 6. (19) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 268, $141,991. 7. (2) Scott Riggs, Dodge, 268, $91,100. 8. (31) Carl Edwards, Ford, 268, $99,475. 9. (15) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 268, $119,986. 10. (10) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 268, $85,400.
Final Point Standings: 1. J.Johnson, 6,475. 2. M.Kenseth, 6,419. 3. D.Hamlin, 6,407. 4. K.Harvick, 6,397. 5. D.Earnhardt Jr., 6,328. 6. J.Gordon, 6,256. 7. J.Burton, 6,228. 8. K.Kahne, 6,183. 9. M.Martin, 6,168. 10. Kyle Busch, 6,027.