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.
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.
Join me trackside from Homestead Miami Speedway right now, prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' season finale Ford 400. Any way you look at it history will be made. Will Jimmie Johnson hold on to become the first driver in NASCAR's 61-year history to win four straight titles or will 50-year-old Mark Martin, a four-time champion runner-up, finally win his first title and become the oldest driver to do so?
Is the recent Hendrick Motorsports domination bad for the sport or a feat to be celebrated? What will it take to stop Johnson's No. 48 team next year? How would the Chase for the Championship be different if Kyle Bush were in the title hunt? Will Roush Fenway Racing get it together for next year?
Join the discussion and help FanHouse wrap up the NASCAR season.
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.
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.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- NASCAR Chairman Brian France held an impromptu news conference Friday at Homestead Miami Speedway, addressing topics from NASCAR's legal battle with driver Jeremy Mayfield, to shortening the schedule, to the Chase for the Championship format and the possibility of Danica Patrick coming to NASCAR.
Generally speaking and considering the poor state of the economy, France said he's pleased with the season although he'd love to have fuller fields of cars carrying more corporate sponsorship and better television ratings. He said the COT is here to stay and he doubts NASCAR will start shortening the lengths of races.
Here are excerpts from France's meeting with reporters.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Two days before he attempts to wrap up a historic fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, Jimmie Johnson has announced a contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports that will keep the champ driving the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet through the 2015 season.
"It's the only car I've ever driven,'' Johnson said with a smile Friday morning. "I'm very proud of that.''
MIAMI -- NASCAR's Championship Weekend officially kicked off Thursday during a contenders press conference that couldn't have been less like boxing's version of a pre-bout showdown. This was more meet-and-greet than stare-and-glare.
The players here -- three-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin -- like each other, so much so it was difficult to remember that they are actually competing against one another.
Johnson gushed about what a great driver Martin is. And Martin humbly insisted he was just happy to be in position to challenge Johnson. And their team owner Rick Hendrick maintained, "I'm just living the dream."
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.
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.
Join me trackside from Homestead Miami Speedway right now, prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' season finale Ford 400. Any way you look at it history will be made. Will Jimmie Johnson hold on to become the first driver in NASCAR's 61-year history to win four straight titles or will 50-year-old Mark Martin, a four-time champion runner-up, finally win his first title and become the oldest driver to do so?
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- 
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- If pressed to find one thing 
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- The hard-core conspirators will think NASCAR scripted it. The reality is 
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- NASCAR Chairman 
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Two days before he attempts to wrap up a historic fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, 
MIAMI -- NASCAR's Championship Weekend officially kicked off Thursday during a contenders press conference that couldn't have been less like boxing's version of a pre-bout showdown. This was more meet-and-greet than stare-and-glare.
