NASCAR

NEW YORK (AP) -- Jimmie Johnson has put together the kind of winning streak that Johnny Damon and the Yankees can certainly appreciate.

It took Damon four years to win his first World Series in New York. Johnson has won an unprecedented four straight championships in NASCAR's premier series.

Johnson received a proclamation from the mayor's office designating Tuesday "Jimmie Johnson Day" in New York City. He also flipped the switch that lit the top of the Empire State Building in the blue, yellow and white colors of his Hendrick Motorsports team.

Notes, quotes & commentary from a championship weekend in Homestead.

Well, there you have it.

We, as NASCAR fans in 2009, have seen something that has never been done before in the 61 years of NASCAR competition, and something that could very easily not happen for another 161 years if this sport lasts that long.

Yep, Jimmie Johnson -- the smooth-drivin' Californian -- is the first guy in all of NASCAR's moonshining and intimidating history to take four straight championships at any level. But, strangely, he's not the first to do so in a major stock car racing series.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- With two laps to go, pop star Nick Lachey began clapping and cheering on his good friend. The back slaps and handshakes among crew, family and friends started coming like a slow wave picking up speed as Jimmie Johnson slid his Chevy out of the final turn and approached the last checkered flag of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

His father, Gary, stood behind the growing celebration in his son's pit stall at Homestead Miami Speedway -- a huge smile on his face, a sparkling Superman pin attached over the logo of his Hendrick Motorsports cap.

Superman is the nickname bestowed on Johnson, who on Sunday became the first driver in NASCAR's 61-year history to win a fourth consecutive Sprint Cup championship.

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HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya positioned themselves for a grand finale in NASCAR's Sprint Cup season-ender at Homestead Miami Speedway on Sunday. Montoya was set for a career-best points finish, with Stewart enjoying a great debut effort for his own new team.

Instead of finishing on a high note, the two veterans engaged in a spirited battle of fender-banging that resulted in both losing positions in the final championship standings.

Hendrick Motorsports announced Sunday morning that team owner Rick Hendrick would not be trackside at Homestead Miami Speedway for that afternoon's Ford 400 NASCAR season finale, but instead remained back in Charlotte, N.C., for a family emergency.

Hendrick's 29-year-old niece Alesha Gainey is in critical condition at a Charlotte hospital being prepared for a liver transplant, Hendrick Motorsports general manager Marshall Carlson told reporters. Gainey is the daughter of Hendrick's late brother John, who was killed in a plane accident in 2004 along with Hendrick's son Ricky and two other of John Hendrick's daughters.

"Rick's priority at this point is supporting his family,'' Carlson said. "He's so proud of his teams but needs to be with his niece and her family.''

Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson earned his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup championship later in the day, defeating HMS teammate Mark Martin by 141 points. Johnson's title also gives HMS its ninth Cup championship, which ties it with Petty Enterprises for the most in Cup Series history.

Where: Homestead-Miami Speedway
Time: Sunday 3:15 PM ET
TV/Radio: ABC, MRN Radio
Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing
Forecast: Mostly sunny, High 60s
Distance: 267 laps (400.5 miles)
Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson
2008 Winner: Carl Edwards

Like Jimmie Johnson or not, and like the Chase or not, should Johnson go on to win his fourth career Sprint Cup championship Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway it would be completely worthy of every bit of the praises gien and the historical references noted.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Mark Martin winces, then breaks into a grin every time he hears the introduction.

"Ladies and gentlemen ... Mark Martin, who is attempting to become the oldest champion in NASCAR history."

The difference between this week and years ago is that Martin grinned. He's been doing that a lot lately.

Martin trails his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson by 108 points entering Sunday's Ford 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway. Johnson, 34, only needs to finish 25th or better to clinch a historic fourth consecutive title.

Martin, 50, is still looking for his first.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) -- Kyle Busch only needed the green flag to drop to win his first NASCAR title. His coronation was never in doubt and neither, really, was the outcome of the Nationwide Series finale.

Busch made it a double dose of celebration for Joe Gibbs Racing, wrapping up the series championship before turning a single lap and capping Saturday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway with his ninth trip to Victory Lane.

"It's not easy to win in any division in this sport when you're racing against some of the best," Busch said. "It's a big deal."

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- If pressed to find one thing Ryan Newman would change about his season, of course, he'd like to score a win in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway.

After being close to victory circle a half-dozen times this season, that's about the only thing he feels is missing from a stellar debut season with the essentially start-up Stewart-Haas Racing team. Newman won two pole positions in the No. 39 U.S. Army-sponsored Chevrolet and, after an ominous start at the season-opening Daytona 500, still qualified for the 12-driver Chase for the Championship.

In our last installment of Inside the Chase for the Championship with Ryan Newman, FanHouse looks at the evolution of the season and how Newman evaluates his fresh start.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- The hard-core conspirators will think NASCAR scripted it. The reality is Jimmie Johnson was the fastest driver of the day.

Johnson will start his No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet from the pole position in Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway -- the ultimate beginning to the last chapter in his quest to become the first driver to win four consecutive championships.

Of all things Johnson knocked his Hendrick Motorsports teammate -- and only title challenger left -- Mark Martin off the top spot on the qualifying speed chart. Johnson leads Martin by 108 points and needs only to finish 25th or better to clinch his historic championship.