Backstretch Motorsports

HOMESTEAD-MIAMI — Jimmie Johnson has accomplished racing’s version of the hat trick…. three championships in a row.

He did it with a 15th -place finish in southern Florida’s grand finale for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. Carl Edwards won the battle, so to speak, but Johnson won the war.

On a day when he only needed a 36th-place finish to clinch his third title in a row, Johnson brought his Lowe’s Chevrolet into the thick of the battle, steadily clicking off position after position in the 267-lap race.

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Jimmie Johnson would just about have to NOT be able to roll off the starting grid Sunday at Homestead to not win a third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup title.

It’s simply his.. to lose

Here’s what he must do to clinch his third consecutive series title — finish 36th or better on Sunday. Additionally, Johnson can clinch by finishing 37th and leading at least one lap or 39th and leading the most laps.

Relax. Just race the track.

“I really think where we are in points is going to allow me to go to Homestead and take a little pressure off my brain this week,” Johnson said. “We can just go down and relax and get in the car and set it up, just do what we know how to do.”

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Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Race No. 9: Phoenix International Raceway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Carl Edwards keeps chipping away at leader Jimmie Johnson’s point lead.
The deficit is now 106 points. An Edwards comeback with two races remaining would be the largest since the current points system was implemented in 1975.
But it’s not far off, which should keep Edwards optimistic. In 1992, Alan Kulwicki overcame an 85-point deficit over Bill Elliott with two races remaining to win the championship.
Edwards has beaten Johnson by 106 points in consecutive races five times this year.

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FORT WORTH, TX. — “It ain’t over til it’s over,” baseball legend Yogi Berra once said.

NASCAR driver Carl Edwards is a believer. First at last weekend’s Atlanta Motor Speedway battle and today at Ft. Worth.

The Missouri native, who cut his racing teeth on dirt tracks throughout the Midwest, dominated the field Sunday to win the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Jimmie Johnson’s ability to thrive in playoff pressure is what made him a two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.
Johnson has more wins during the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – 13 – than any other driver.
The statistics prove that Johnson and his team are at their best during the Chase.
Thus far, five of the six tracks in the Chase have previously held races in 2008. During the “regular season” at those tracks, Johnson had an average finish of 14.4 and a Driver Rating of 99.1.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. ( – Jimmie Johnson’s 69-point lead over second-place Jeff Burton may look secure, but recent history indicates otherwise.
The points leader with five races remaining has failed to win the championship in each of the last two seasons.
In 2006, Johnson was in seventh place and 146 points behind leader Jeff Burton with five races remaining. He won the championship by 56 points, a swing of 202 points.

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CONCORD, N.C.—Despite Jimmie Johnson’s fast start to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Jeff Burton hasn’t been willing to concede the trophy to the two-time defending champion.

On Saturday night, Burton gave more than lip service to that notion, holding off Kasey Kahne to win the Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The victory, Burton’s second of the season and the 21st of his career, vaulted the driver of the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet into second place in the standings, 69 points behind Johnson with five races left in the Chase.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 6, 2008) – Because he shares a sponsor with the track, and because of his immense success there, Jimmie Johnson is the story when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Here are some LMS-specific Johnson numbers:
1 – Johnson’s current points position. It’s the first time in his career he has held the top spot going into the second LMS race.
1 – Johnson’s starting position in the 2004 Coca-Cola 600. Johnson is one of 13 LMS winners to start from the pole position.
2 – Season sweeps of LMS by Johnson (2004 and 2005), the only driver to do it twice. Other sweeps at LMS were done by Fred Lorenzen (1965), Bobby Allison (1971), David Pearson (1974), Richard Petty (1975), Dale Earnhardt (1986) and Kasey Kahne (2006).
5 – Wins at LMS for Johnson. He and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon are the active leaders there. Another win, and Johnson will be tied for all-time wins at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

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TALLADEGA, ALA– Tony Stewart survived a couple of huge wrecks and a record number of leaders to win the AMP Energy 500 here Sunday at a track that produces excitement by the barrel.

Stewart held off hard-charging rookie Regan Smith, who made a last-lap daredevil pass below the yellow line in trying to beat the two-time champion.

NASCAR rules prohibit passing below the yellow line that separates the racing track from the apron.

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — It was probably one of the most spectacular finishes in NASCAR history.

Carl Edwards made a suicide run into the third turn underneath race leader Jimmie Johnson. He was determined to win.

Unfortunately, Edwards ran out of track before running into the wall, struggled to maintain control and watched Johnson go back by him for the victory at Kansas Speedway.

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