FanHouse Rick Hendrick

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) -- Jimmie Johnson has won a NASCAR record fourth consecutive championship with a fifth-place finish in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Johnson needed only to finish 25th or better to beat teammate Mark Martin in the race, won by Denny Hamlin, to give team owner Rick Hendrick his own NASCAR record, a 12th championship.

Johnson did better than that in a sometimes-testy Sunday drive into history. He was at times annoyed at rival drivers and even Jeff Gordon, the mentor and teammate who helped him land his job with Hendrick Motorsports.

Nobody gave Johnson anything, either. The other drivers raced hard around him all day, making Johnson earn every point while sending Martin to a fifth runner-up finish in the final standings.

Hendrick Motorsports has announced that team owner Rick Hendrick will not be trackside at the Homestead Miami Speedway for Sunday's Ford 400 NASCAR season finale but instead 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 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 niece and her family.''

Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson holds a 108-point lead over teammate Mark Martin entering Sunday's final race insuring the team its ninth championship, which ties Hendrick with Petty Enterprises for the most in Cup Series history.

Mark Martin's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory last weekend at Phoenix very well may have been the most popular and sentimental win in years.

Not only did the fans in the grandstands voice their thundering approval but numerous drivers and car owners ducked into Victory Lane to congratulate Mark on his accomplishment. Greg Biffle articulated it best when he said, in summary, that he couldn't think of anyone else, besides himself, he'd rather see in Victory Lane. The feeling of virtually every driver in the garage is that if they can't pull their car into Victory Lane, they're happy to see Mark do so. He has that much respect because he races everyone clean and is as intense as they come.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner Rick Hendrick had a pretty doggone good weekend at Martinsville Speedway by taking home the race win and watching each of his four cars finish in the Top-10.

To cap it off, the race was the 25th anniversary of Hendrick's first win in NASCAR's top division, so it was fitting for his team to have a successful day.

Unfortunately, not all was roses for Hendrick over the weekend as Raliegh, N.C.'s News & Observer ran a lengthy story detailing what could be some significant transgressions involving his business relationship with former North Carolina governor Mike Easley.

Rick Hendrick has given his driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Earnhardt's crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., a strong vote of confidence amidst speculation that the cousin tandem should split up after a disappointing start to the season.

"What I want to say is that I am 100 percent behind this group and I have no intentions of making any changes,'' Hendrick said Wednesday during a conference call with the national racing media. "Tony Junior is our guy.''

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s performance -- or lack thereof -- in 2009 has become a contentious debate, last weekend's Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway lacked the pizazz we're used to at Bristol and a few drivers have struggled to put forth results that'll leave you scratching your head.

What, you ask yourself, does FanHouse's Holly Cain and Geoffrey Miller have to say on these issues?

Find out as FH's Wheel2Wheel takes a look at NASCAR's current stories and issues. Read on to see what we've got to say, and when you're done, tell us exactly how we're wrong. It'll be more fun than sneaking your family sedan on to Daytona's high banks for a late night joyride.

Well, almost.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dressed casually in jeans and a black, button-down oxford, Ray Evernham leaned back into his chair and twirled the large gold ring on his right ring finger - the ring he received as crew chief for Jeff Gordon's 1999 Daytona 500 victory.

"I've got two of these Daytona 500 rings, but I can't get a parking pass," Evernham joked Wednesday from the infield of the Daytona International Speedway.

A decade ago he was celebrating in victory lane. A year ago he was on the pit box guiding another young driver, Kasey Kahne, to a top-10 finish in the Daytona 500. This week, he had to borrow a parking pass from fellow ESPN television analyst Rusty Wallace.

Jeff Gordon said it best last week when he said Jimmie Johnson "has flat killed everyone" in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

That didn't change Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Jimmie Johnson finished seventh in the Ford 400 to wrap up his second NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship in a row by 77 points over Hendrick Motorsports teammate and co-team owner, Jeff Gordon. Johnson is the first Cup series repeat champion since Gordon did it in 1997-98.

Johnson, who was going for his 5th win in a row, led only the first lap of the race after starting from the pole and was a steady Top-10 fixture for the rest of the race. Gordon managed to earn 9 points in the final tally on Johnson by finishing fourth, but it wouldn't be enough for the four-time champion who also had a season to remember by recording his 30th Top-10 of the season, a new NASCAR record.

Oh Yeah, Matt Kenseth Won, Too

Also celebrating Sunday night at Homestead was the Roush-Fenway Racing team after Matt Kenseth won his second race of the year.

Heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend for the tenth and final race of the Chase for the Nextel Cup, things in the Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson Show changed dramatically since last week's edition. Gordon now trails Johnson by 86 points in the standings. Here's a breakdown of their stats at Homestead and the possibilities that loom within the last Chase race of the season.

Homestead Stats: Neither Gordon nor Johnson have a win at Homestead, a track that has seen a myriad of layout changes since it first came on the Nextel Cup tour. Johnson has the best career finish with a 2nd-place in 2004. Gordon's best finish also came in 2004 with a 3rd-place.

A year ago, Gordon finished 24th while Johnson finished ninth to wrap up his first title. A 40th-place finish in 2005 left Johnson with an average finish at HMS of 14.5 while Gordon has average 11.4.

Chase Stats: Phoenix stuck a fork in Jeff Gordon's title hopes after Johnson won his fourth-straight to Gordon's 10th-place finish. The 86-point deficit will be nearly impossible to overcome unless Johnson has serious trouble in the race. If Johnson finishes 18th or better, he automatically looks up the title, even if Gordon leads every lap and wins the race.

In doomsday scenarios for Johnson, if he finishes 40th or worse, Gordon could take the title with a 10th place finish or better. A 43rd-place finish for Johnson would mean Gordon would have to finish 14th or better.

I wouldn't put too much stock in those possibilities this year knowing that he has only failed to finish a race four times. Johnson should have his second NASCAR Nextel Cup title in hand come Sunday evening.

Last week at Texas Motor Speedway, we heard plenty about how Jeff Gordon didn't have a good-handling car in the Saturday practice sessions leading up to the Dickie's 500.

And if Jeff Gordon wants any chance at re-capturing that Nextel Cup point lead and his fifth series championship, the No. 24 team is indeed going to have to make amends on how well they get the car dialed in.

"We're doing a great job on Friday qualifying and we need to do that again here today and next week in Homestead. But Saturday getting prepared for the race, we got to do a little bit better job," said Gordon Friday before qualifying at Phoenix.

Starting positions haven't been a problem for Gordon in the past few weeks. Gordon started second at Texas last week and at Atlanta two weeks back, he rolled off eighth. He starts third Sunday at Phoenix.

In each race, Gordon has finished seventh after battling a race car that often wanted to find contact with the SAFER barrier instead of with victory lane. Unfortunately for Gordon fans, the strong effort to salvage a decent finish has been significantly trumped by two-straight wins by teammate and Chase contender Jimmie Johnson.

It's definitely not lost on Gordon that the Saturday program needs to improve immediately at Phoenix and next week at Homestead if the No. 24 team wants any shot at Jimmie Johnson.

"We've got to step it up. There's no hiding that and I hope we can pull that off right here in Phoenix," said Gordon.