Starting on pole for Sunday’s Ford 400 — the final race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series — Jimmie Johnson had the number 18 placed firmly at the forefront of his mind. With an 86-point lead over close friend and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, all Johnson needed was an 18th place finish to clinch his second-consecutive NASCAR Nextel Cup title. And things went well right from the onset on the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami oval for Johnson as he led the green flag lap over outside pole sitter Ryan Newman, collected five bonus points in doing so, then let fate run its course for the next 266 laps. A 10-time winner in 2007, Johnson and his number 48 Chevrolet, in no great rush and in no, way, shape or form willing to take any unnecessary chances were all too content to race around in the lower recesses of the top 10, passing teammate Jeff Gordon for eight 117 laps into the race. From that point, the Hendrick teammates kept each other in check, symbolizing the team’s dominance — a team that had won 18 of 36 races in 2007. When all was said and done and the checkered flag waved in Florida, Johnson crossed the finish line in seventh and in doing so, won the 2007 Nextel Cup by 77 points over Gordon. Winning the race was Rosh-Fenway Racing’s Matt Kenseth, his first Cup victory in 34 races. Leading 214 of 267 laps, Kenseth won the Ford 400 by 0.852 seconds over Penske Racing wheelman Kurt Busch. Denny Hamlin of the Joe Gibbs Racing operation was third, while Jeff Gordon was fourth.

"We're just really hitting our stride," Johnson said. "I think that we have a lot of good years ahead of us and we'll be fighting for more championships and certainly winning more races as the years go by, and hopefully be a three-time champion in the near future." Rick Hendrick, the man who took on chance on bringing former sprint car ace Jeff Gordon into NASCAR prior to luring Johnson into his organization, was thrilled with Johnson’s 2007 campaign. "Jimmie's just getting better and better, phenomenal," he said. "He's as determined as anybody I've ever seen sit down in a racecar. I don't see anything that's going to slow Jimmie down. I hope that we can keep it together. We can do some phenomenal things in the future.” Added teammate Gordon, who dearly wanted his fifth Nextel Cup: "Had we performed the last four weeks as we did tonight, it might have been a different outcome," Gordon said. "It's hard to close up on Jimmie and those guys. We wanted to be the champions and got beat. It will make us hungrier in the off-season.

“It’s no surprise to me when we get in the final 10 (races) that they have been able to perform the way they have,” continued Gordon on Johnson and his team. “I maybe wouldn’t have predicted four (victories) in a row like they’ve done. That’s been very impressive. And I stood in with the other drivers, the crew chiefs and engineers in our meetings and debriefs every weekend. We know their setups and they know our setups. We know the times in practice and everything that goes into it. I think the job that Jimmie and Chad have done on that entire team is phenomenal.”