THE CHAMP

On the strength of a four-race winning streak during NASCAR’s Chase for the Championship, Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team rolled to its second-consecutive championship.
Johnson drove his Chevrolet to a career-high 10 victories, the most by any driver in the series since Jeff Gordon won 13 in 1998.
Johnson scored 20 top fives and 24 top 10s in 36 races. He also won four poles.
Johnson fell behind early during the 10-race Chase, but consecutive victories at Martinsville Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix Int’l Raceway pushed his Lowe’s No. 48 team to the top of the heap.
“I think in the last four weeks for anyone to win four races in a row, especially with what is on the line, is pretty amazing,” Johnson said prior to his season-ending seventh-place finish at Homestead.

MOMENTOUS OCCASIONS

BYE BYE BILL: Bill France, Jr., who led NASCAR through its growth explosion, died in June after a long fight with cancer. He was 74.
HEADLINE ACT: Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s performance was far from spectacular, but the third-generation driver was in the headlines for most of the season. In May, he announced he would leave Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the team his late father founded, and would seek employment elsewhere. After being courted by virtually every team owner in the business, Earnhardt signed with Hendrick Motorsports where he will team with Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears next season.
ROUGH INTRO: Toyota made its Nextel Cup Series debut in the Daytona 500, but for the most part the Japanese manufacturer struggled in its introduction to stock-car racing. Toyota didn’t win a race but won poles with Dave Blaney and Michael Waltrip. Blaney was the only Toyota driver to finish in the top 35 in points.
SPEED VISION: ABC/ESPN returned to covering Nextel Cup Series races beginning with the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late July.

ON THE RECORD

“Dale, Jr. and Kasey Kahne have teenage girls chasing them around, and I’ve got a bunch of 30-something guys wearing black wigs.” — Boris Said on the Said Heads

“Nobody wants to hear a grown man cry.” — Mark Martin after losing the Daytona 500 by .020 second

“I lay awake at night thinking what I can do to make this better.” — Dale Jarrett regarding Toyota’s struggle to make races

“I am not eating any Kellogg’s any time soon.” — Kurt Busch after wrecking with his brother, Kyle, during the Nextel All-Star Challenge

“I’m seeking to have that peace of mind and the comfort to be able to really be an asset to somebody. I want to go somewhere and really make some things happen for somebody and have that appreciation to go back and forth.” — Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

“For us, this is like I’m 21 again and driving for Felix Sabates in the Mello Yello car…Third place was just the cherry on top of the sundae.” — Kyle Petty after finishing third in the Coca-Cola 600

LOOKING AHEAD

• The name of the Cup Series will change for the second time in four years, as Sprint’s purchase of Nextel in 2006 has lead to the series being known as the Sprint Cup Series starting in January.
• NASCAR’s ballyhooed Car of Tomorrow will just be the car, as the back-to-the-future style racing machine will be used in all 36 races.
• The invasion of open-wheel drivers to NASCAR Cup racing will continue, with 2007 IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti, three-time IndyCar titlist Sam Hornish, Jr. and former Formula One World Driving Champion Jacques Villeneuve competing for the rookie of the year award in 2008.

STAT PACK

.005      Margin of victory in seconds for Jamie McMurray over Kyle Busch in July’s Pepsi 400, the second closest in series history

18      Victories for Hendrick Motorsports in 2007

TOP 12

    Driver    Points    Wins    Top 5    Top 10    Poles
    1. Jimmie Johnson    6,723    10    20    24    4
    2. Jeff Gordon    6,646    6    21    30    7
    3. Clint Bowyer    6,377    1    5    17    2
    4. Matt Kenseth    6,298    2    13    22    0
    5. Kyle Busch    6,293    1    11    20    0
    6. Tony Stewart    6,242    3    11    20    0
    7. Kurt Busch    6,231    2    6    14    1
    8. Jeff Burton    6,231    1    9    18    0
    9. Carl Edwards    6,222    3    11    15    1
    10. Kevin Harvick    6,199    1    4    15    0
    11. Martin Truex, Jr.    6,164    1    7    14    1
    12. Denny Hamlin    6,143    1    12    18    1

WHO, WHAT, WHEN AND WHERE

    Date    Track        Winner    Car    Laps
    Feb. 18    Daytona Int’l Speedway (Fla.)    Kevin Harvick    Chevrolet    202
    Feb. 25    California Speeedway    Matt Kenseth    Ford    250
    March 11    Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Nev.)    Jimmie Johnson    Chevrolet    267
    March 18    Atlanta Motor Speedway (Ga.)    Jimmie Johnson    Chevrolet    325
    March 25    Bristol Motor Speedway (Tenn.)    Kyle Busch    Chevrolet    504
    April 1    Martinsville Speedway (Va.)    Jimmie Johnson    Chevrolet    500
    April 15    Texas Motor Speedway    Jeff Burton    Chevrolet    334
    April 21    Phoenix Int’l Raceway (Ariz.)    Jeff Gordon    Chevrolet    312
    April 29    Talladega Superspeedway (Ala.)    Jeff Gordon    Chevrolet    192
    May 6    Richmond Int’l Raceway (Va.)    Jimmie Johnson    Chevrolet    400
    May 13    Darlington Raceway (S.C.)    Jeff Gordon    Chevrolet    367
    May 27    Lowe’s Motor Speedway (N.C.)    Casey Mears    Chevrolet    400
    June 4    Dover Int’l Speedway (Del.)    Martin Truex, Jr.    Chevrolet    400
    June 10    Pocono Raceway (Pa.)    Jeff Gordon    Chevrolet    106
    June 17    Michigan Int’l Speedway    Carl Edwards    Ford    200
    June 24    Infineon Raceway (Calif.)    Juan Pablo Montoya    Dodge    110
    July 1    New Hampshire Int’l Speedway    Denny Hamlin    Chevrolet    300
    July 7    Daytona Int’l Speedway (Fla.)    Jamie McMurray    Ford    160
    July 15    Chicagoland Speedway (Ill.)    Tony Stewart    Chevrolet    267
    July 29    Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Ind.)    Tony Stewart    Chevrolet    160
    Aug. 5    Pocono Raceway (Pa.)    Kurt Busch    Dodge    200
    Aug. 12    Watkins Glen Int’l (N.Y.)    Tony Stewart    Chevrolet    90
    Aug. 21    Michigan Int’l Speedway    Kurt Busch    Dodge    203
    Aug. 25    Bristol Motor Speedway (Tenn.)    Carl Edwards    Ford    500
    Sept. 2    California Speedway    Jimmie Johnson    Chevrolet    250
    Sept. 8    Richmond Int’l Raceway (Va.)    Jimmie Johnson    Chevrolet    400
    Sept. 16    New Hampshire Int’l Speedway    Clint Bowyer    Chevrolet    300
    Sept. 23    Dover Int’l Speedway (Del.)    Carl Edwards    Ford    400
    Sept. 30    Kansas Speedway    Greg Biffle    Ford    210
    Oct. 7    Talladega Superspeedway (Ala.)    Jeff Gordon    Chevrolet    188
    Oct. 13    Lowe’s Motor Speedway (N.C.)    Jeff Gordon    Chevrolet    337
    Oct. 21    Martinsville Speedway (Va.)    Jimmie Johnson    Chevrolet    506
    Oct. 28    Atlanta Motor Speedway (Ga.)    Jimmie Johnson    Chevrolet    329
    Nov. 4    Texas Motor Speedway    Jimmie Johnson    Chevrolet    334
    Nov. 11    Phoenix Int’l Raceway (Ariz.)    Jimmie Johnson    Chevrolet    312
    Nov. 18    Homestead-Miami Speedway (Fla.)    Matt Kenseth    Ford    267