Jimmie Johnson easily clinched his NASCAR record fourth consecutive championship with a fifth-place finish in Sunday's season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick skipped Sunday's season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to be with an ailing family member, while one of his drivers -- Jimmie Johnson or Mark Martin -- battle for the Sprint Cup Series championship.
Kyle Busch wrapped up his sensational season in the Nationwide Series by winning the Ford 300 after already clinching the championship when the green flag waved.
Jimmie Johnson kicked off his probable championship weekend by winning Friday's qualifying for the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Points leader Jimmie Johnson signed a five- year contract extension Friday to drive for Hendrick Motorsports through the 2015 season.
Sprint Cup Series
Johnson rebounded from his Texas setback by winning last weekend's race at Phoenix. He now leads second-place Martin by 108 points. Johnson will lock up his unprecedented fourth consecutive title with a 25th-place finish or better at Homestead. Jeff Gordon, currently third in points (-169), officially will be eliminated from championship contention when Johnson starts the 400-mile race in South Florida.
The rivalry between Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski reached its apex in last Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Phoenix, and chances are the heated feud will boil over into this weekend's season finale at Homestead.
Carl Edwards did all he had to do to postpone Kyle Busch's opportunity to clinch the Nationwide Series until next week by winning Saturday's Able Body Labor 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Bobby Labonte will drive for TRG Motorsports full-time in next year's Sprint Cup Series campaign, with TaxSlayer.com sponsoring his team's efforts in a limited number of races.
Johnny Sauter will start on the pole for Friday's Lucas Oil 150 Camping World Truck Series race after posting the fastest lap in qualifying at Phoenix International Raceway.
NASCAR assessed a 50-point penalty to both driver Martin Truex, Jr. and car owner Teresa Earnhardt and fined crew chief Kevin Manion $50,000 after Truex's No.1 Chevrolet failed post-race inspection last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.
Sprint Cup Series
The largest deficit ever overcome with two races remaining occurred in 1992 when Alan Kulwicki trailed by 85 points, but edged Bill Elliott for the Cup title by just 10 points, making it the second closest points battle in series history.
In what looked to be a ho-hum battle for this year's Sprint Cup Series championship, Jimmie Johnson's misfortune at Texas Motor Speedway has made for an interesting turn of events in the Chase.
Points leader Jimmie Johnson remains in the garage for repairs after crashing on the third lap in Sunday's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Kurt Busch managed to conserve enough fuel to win Sunday's Dickies 500, while Jimmie Johnson crashed in the opening laps and saw his points lead drastically reduced at Texas Motor Speedway.
Matt Crafton topped the qualifying charts on Thursday to take the pole for the WinStar World Casino 350 Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
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