The Hot Pass: Johnson not content coasting to title

HOMESTEAD, Fla.

No one can accuse Jimmie Johnson of not charging for his fourth consecutive championship. Entering Sunday's Ford 400, Johnson needed to finish 25th or better to win the title. But point racing has never been Johnson's style. If Johnson was going to make history, he was going to do it in dramatic fashion — and he did. After starting from the pole position, Johnson fell as low as 23rd on the Lap 121 restart before his ascent began. With 65 laps remaining, Johnson was anything but timid as he took his Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick three-wide to jump from ninth to seventh. And he didn't stop there. While running fifth with 11 laps remaining, crew chief Chad Knaus informed Johnson that he was the fastest car on the track and 6 1/2 seconds behind leader Denny Hamlin. But Johnson still wasn't satisfied, as evident by his radio transmission.

• Johnson: Can I catch the leader?
• Knaus: No, you cannot. Nice and smooth.
• Johnson: Is that a dare?
• Knaus: No, it is not a dare.

Just present Johnson with a challenge and he'll find a way to overcome it. Even when it appears that Johnson has exhausted his last bit of energy, the No. 48 continues to thrust to the front. And on Sunday night, Johnson was still wheeling the car through the final turn, his emotions finally got the best of him. "Thank you guys so much," Johnson said over the radio after the race. "How about some history? My god, I can't believe this. History, boys. No one ... no one EV-ER ... EVER ... Chad, you rock." And despite Johnson's historic streak of four consecutive titles, Knaus still believes his driver is "the most underrated driver in the garage." "That is just absolutely incredible," Knaus said. "I think that has got to say how impressive this Lowe's team is and what a great, fantastic driver Jimmie Johnson is. Jimmie is an incredible, incredible talent. He is the most underrated driver in this garage from a perspective media recognition. I mean that guy can do things with a race car that I've never seen done before. I hope this proves this to everybody." Hamlin, who started 38th, won the race by 2.632 seconds over Jeff Burton. But during the postrace press conference, he was quick to compliment the champion. "There's no one as deserving as them," said Hamlin, who jumped three positions to fifth in the standings with his fourth win of the season. "They just don't finish races," Burton added. "They win races too." Throughout the course of this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup Johnson scored four wins, matching his mark from 2004 and 2007. He finished the season with seven wins, 16 top-fives and 24 top-10 finishes. Johnson has 18 Chase wins in 60 races for a winning percentage of 30 percent. In the final tally, Johnson's lead over second-place Mark Martin was 141 points. When Martin was asked to describe Johnson's accomplishment he replied, "Let's just let it play out. He's not done yet. "My equipment is just as good, but I am not as good as Jimmie Johnson."

Numbers game

Hendrick Motorsports earned its ninth owner's title on Sunday, tying Petty Enterprises in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Hendrick also collected its 12th national series title (Cup, Nationwide and Trucks) — breaking a previous tie with Richard Childress Racing.

The Wheelman

Mark Martin entered Sunday's contest with a seemingly insurmountable 108-point deficit, but he refused to give up despite an ill-handling car. Martin believed that as the track cooled down, he'd be able to dial it in to his liking. That never happened. Martin started fourth but dropped to 25th by Lap 120. Although he soldiered back, Martin found himself 22nd on the Lap 222 restart. "This is a challenge here," Martin said and begged his team for encouragement. "I need to know (what's going on the track) even though I can't do anything about it. I will do the best I can." Once again, Martin stepped up. In seven laps, he wheeled the No. 5 Chevrolet up to 14th. By Lap 236, Martin had gained 10 positions in 14 laps and likely used up what equipment he had left. Though he climbed as high as 11th in the closing laps, Martin finished 12th. "It was a great fight and it was a sure tough night and actually the car was pretty good that last run and we changed stuff on it, went to the back, and wrestled and actually the last run was decent," Martin said. "If we could have been there the whole race we could have got a top 10 out of it. "We are lacking something here and you know, as a group I think just a little bit and we will work on it for next year. But it was really a privilege to even have a crack at it."

The Fireworks

Move over Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski, there's two champions ready to rumble. Although Hamlin and Keselowski have provided plenty of controversy throughout the year, it was the battle between Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Stewart which led to the most mischief on the track Sunday. Stewart, who was fourth on the Lap 113 restart, slowed when the race went green causing then sixth-place Montoya to check-up. Montoya nudged Stewart when he passed him and it was game on. Stewart wheeled around through Turn 3 on Lap 116 and nailed the No. 42 car. Montoya dropped to 38th and was forced to the garage for repairs. The retaliation didn't stop there. Montoya returned to the track on Lap 144 and two laps later, punted Stewart coming out of Turn 4. Stewart was able to rally back to finish 22nd. Montoya never improved on 38th — his worst finish of the season. Neither driver offered comment following the race.

Can't fix stupid

For some racers, wrecking on the track isn't satisfying enough. For Eric Darnell, the yellow stripe on his back bumper wasn't big enough to stop a chain reaction on the entrance to pit road when the No. 96 hit its brakes and collected Robby Gordon, Reed Sorenson, Elliott Sadler and Michael Waltrip in the process. Darnell finished 36th, while Waltrip and Gordon continued racing, but the Richard Petty Motorsports cars of Sorenson and Sadler were completely destroyed. The drivers were scored 40th and 41st, respectively.

Top rookie

Joey Logano easily won the 2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year award, topping the freshman class 26 times in 36 races including his first career victory at New Hampshire in June. At 19, Logano is the youngest driver to capture the honor. He posted three top-five and seven top-10 finishes along the way.

Say what?

Chad Knaus on being called out for shooting video at the racetrack: I don't do a lot of things that are NASCAR approved.