Johnson, Edwards both win in NASCAR finale

Carl Edwards started the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway needing a miracle or three to wrest the Sprint Cup from two-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson. Even if Edwards won and led the most laps, he had to hope that Johnson would wreck out or blow up early or lose dozens of laps with a mechanical failure. "Yeah, I know it's a long shot," he said the Thursday before the season finale, "but at least it's a shot. We didn't come down here to run second."

And so he didn't. Edwards, in fact, led the most laps, outran Johnson virtually all afternoon and into the night and stretched his fuel mileage just enough to win the 267-lap, 400-mile race. But even with a late-race, green-flag "insurance" stop for fuel and tires, Johnson finished on the lead lap in 15th, enough for his third consecutive Cup, this one by a 69-point margin. He joins Cale Yarborough (1976, '77 and '78) as the sport's only other three-peat champion in 60 years.

"It hasn't sunk in yet," Johnson said an hour after the race. "There were times this year when we weren't even in the ballpark, but everybody buckled down and worked hard. I'm so proud of this team and the fight it's had. Growing up in El Cajon, Calif., and racing motorcycles, I never thought I'd be in this position. I'm so thankful and so blessed, because these guys didn't want to have history slip through their fingers."

Depending on lap-leader bonus points, Johnson needed only to finish 36th to 39th to keep Edwards from his first Cup. He started 30th and easily reached the top 20 but struggled to reach the top 10. He used two-tire pit strategy under caution at lap 200 to take the lead the only time (laps 201-206), then slipped back. He was still in the top 10 (easily within his safety zone) until his last gas-and-two-tires stop with 13 laps remaining. He was briefly in the low 20s before coming home 15th.

After dominating most of the night, Edwards slowed appreciably down the stretch, just as he'd done in Texas two weeks earlier. He hung on and limped across the line ahead of Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer. It was his series-leading ninth victory this year, his third in the last four races and the 16th of his career, all with Roush Fenway Racing. Except for two costly DNFs, he was fourth or better in all 10 Chase races, a record not even Johnson could match.

Matt Kenseth ran out of fuel while leading with four laps to go. He carried the same fuel load as Edwards and thought he'd slowed enough to nurse his car home. Instead of a likely top-five and a cinch top-10 in final points, he finished the race in 25th and dropped to 11th-ranked, two behind Kyle Busch. Dale Earnhardt Jr., a DNF 41st with wheel problems, finished the season in 12th, the tour's unofficial "worst of the best."

That position was very unlike that of Johnson, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate--once again crowned "best of the best."


RESULTS
TRACK: HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY

1.5-MILE OVAL

DATE: NOV. 16

1. Carl Edwards, Ford, 267 laps at 129.472 mph avg. speed; 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 Pablo 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 (wheel bearing); 42. Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 222; 43. Kurt Busch, Dodge, 207 (crash)



TIME OF RACE: 3h 5m 36s

MARGIN OF VICTORY: 7.548s

PURSE: $5,374,166, winner's share $371,025

FAST QUALIFIER: Reutimann, 31.462s (171.636 mph)

PROVISIONALS: Riggs, Almirola, Ambrose, Waltrip

DID NOT QUALIFY: Ken Schrader, Max Papis, Sam Hornish Jr.

STARTED AT REAR: None

LEAD CHANGES: 15 among eight drivers

CAUTION PERIODS: Seven for 31 laps

FINAL STANDINGS: 1. Johnson, 6,684; 2. Edwards, -69; 3. Biffle, -217; 4. Harvick, -276; 5. Bowyer, -303; 6. Burton, -349; 7. J. Gordon, -368; 8. Hamlin, -470; 9. Stewart, -482 ; 10. Kyle Busch, -498; 11. Kenseth, -500; 12. Earnhardt, -557

NEXT: Feb. 15, 2009, Daytona Beach, Fla.

Source: http://www.autoweek.com/