HOMESTEAD, Fla. — While Jimmie Johnson was able to celebrate history, Denny Hamlin could turn the page on his recent run-ins and on-track battles with Brad Keselowski and celebrate a victory in Sunday’s Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“It feels really good,” Hamlin said after capturing the fourth win of the season. “I don’t even know where he (Keselowski) finished to be honest with you.”
For the record, Keselowski was 25th, but that didn’t matter on this day as Johnson’s fifth-place finish allowed him to become the first driver in NASCAR’s 61 seasons to win four championships in a row.
Johnson won the title by 141 points over Mark Martin, who finished 12th.
But while Johnson was becoming part of history, it was Hamlin who was winning the race.
It was Hamlin’s eighth victory in 151 Sprint Cup starts, his fourth this season and his first victory on a track that isn’t considered “flat.”
Hamlin’s Toyota led three times for 71 laps in the 267-lap contest. He defeated Jeff Burton’s Chevrolet by 2.632 seconds in a race that featured 18 lead changes among 10 drivers.
Johnson started on the pole and led the first nine laps. He led twice more for 28 laps before playing it conservatively and finishing fifth.
Kevin Harvick’s Chevrolet was third followed by Kurt Busch’s Dodge and Johnson’s championship Chevrolet.