Lap by Lap: Ford 400

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- A lap-by-lap account of the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway:

• Point standings | Race results

Biffle wins his second race of the season, teammate Busch finishes fifth -- and clinches the point championship by eight over Johnson in the closest finish in NASCAR history. Gordon falls 16 points short of his fifth title.

Biffle passes Stewart after the restart, Johnson and Gordon move into second and third ...

Lap 269 -- Race restarts and after more than 2 hours of caution, the point race comes down to ...

Green-white-checkered will begin with Stewart leading Biffle, Gordon, Johnson and Busch.

Lap 264 -- Race leader Ryan Newman blows a right-front tire and hits the wall to bring out the 14th caution. Busch leads Gordon by 16 points and Johnson by 18 points -- and there will be a green-white-checkered finish.

Lap 263 -- Newman and Stewart continue to run 1-2, while Busch's point lead is holding steady in double digits.

Lap 256 -- Racing resumes as Busch leads Gordon by 12 points. Johnson trails by 14.

Lap 252 -- Martin Truex Jr. cuts down a tire; caution flies for the 13th time.

Lap 250 -- Newman, Stewart and Dale Jarrett are running 1-3, while Gordon (fourth) and Johnson (fifth) are just ahead of point leader Busch (seventh).

Lap 241 -- Stewart again leads the race, while Busch now holds an eight-point advantage over Gordon. Johnson trails by 15.

Lap 232 -- The green flag flies with Newman and Stewart running first and second with 35 laps to go. Busch leads Gordon five points and Johnson by 15 as the race resumes. Earnhardt Jr. is 96 points behind and Martin, who had to pit on lap 229 for a flat tire, trails by 131.

Lap 226 -- With 41 laps to go leader Wallace pits, but the top three Chase drivers -- Busch, Gordon and Johnson -- remain on the track.

Lap 223 -- Caution for the 12th time as Jeff Green blows an engine. At the moment, Busch leads Gordon by four points and Johnson by 14.

Lap 215 -- Wallace and Biffle, who has led a race-high 115 laps, are running 1-2. The title-contending Chase drivers: Gordon (15th), Martin (16th), Johnson (16th), Busch (20th) and Earnhardt Jr. (21st).

Lap 208 -- Racing resumes. Updated point standings:
• 1. Busch
• 2. Johnson (-14)
• 3. Johnson (-18)
• 4. Martin (-61)
• 5. Earnhardt (-68)

Lap 203 -- Chase contenders making strategic pit stops.

Lap 200 -- Caution is out for the 11th time, again for debris. Race leader Martin will pit. Rusty Wallace is the seventh driver to lead the race.

Lap 196 -- Green-flag racing resumes. Again.

Lap 191 -- Tenth caution of the day for debris on the track.

Lap 190 -- Chase contenders: Gordon (fourth), Martin (fifth), Johnson (seventh), Earnhardt Jr. (eighth) and Busch (16th).

Lap 184 -- Newman passes Labonte for the lead.

Lap 178 -- Labonte leads the field back to green. Two title hopefuls are in the top 10: Gordon (third) and Earnhardt Jr. (sixth).

Lap 174 -- Debris on the track ... and the ninth caution is out. While the leaders are pitting, Gordon remains on the track.

Lap 171 -- Green-flag racing resumes -- and leader Tony Stewart is black-flagged.

With 100 laps to go, the point standings:
• 1. Johnson
• 2. Busch (-6)
• 3. Gordon (-23)
• 4. Martin (-87)
• 5. Earnhardt Jr. (-98)

Lap 164 -- As Tom Bradford told Joan after Nicholas was born: eight is enough. Caution is out again; Kasey Kahne scatters the field after slamming into the wall. Travis Kvapil, trying to check up, skids across the track after being tapped from behind by Earnhardt Jr.

Lap 161 -- Racing resumes with Stewart, Biffle and Harvick running 1-3.

Lap 157 -- Running in 16th place, Sadler gets loose off Turn 4 and batters the inside retaining wall to force the seventh caution of the race.

Lap 152 -- Green-flag racing resumes. Updated point standings:
• 1. Johnson
• 2. Busch (-30)
• 3. Gordon (-50)
• 4. Earnhardt Jr. (-73)
• 5. Martin (-95)

Lap 150 -- Stewart is the fourth leader of the race. Kevin Harvick runs second with Bobby Labonte, Biffle and Jamie McMurray rounding out the top five.

Lap 147 -- Moments after Biffle passes Newman for the lead, Mike Bliss backs his car into the wall for the sixth caution of the day. The leaders will make pit stops.

Lap 145 -- Newman continues to show the way, however, Biffle is less than 0.5 seconds behind. Johnson has moved into third place, while Gordon is 15th and Busch is 16th.

Lap 140 -- Biffle is again making noise at the front of the pack, having passed Johnson for third place and eclipsing Sadler to take second.

Lap 132 -- Back under green with three title hopefuls in the top 10: Johnson (third), Earnhardt Jr. (ninth) and Martin (10th). Busch is 24th and Gordon -- who pitted a third time under yellow to top-off his fuel -- is 27th, the last car on the lead lap.

Lap 124 -- With the yellow out, Gordon comes down pit road to change left-side tires. This decision moves Johnson into third place -- and first in the Chase for the Nextel Cup standings, 48 points ahead of Busch.

Lap 119 -- Still under caution, raindrops are falling. Newman, Elliott Sadler, Gordon, Johnson and Biffle are in the top five. Gordon leads Johnson by only two points right now, with Busch 54 behind.

Lap 113 -- Jeremy Mayfield blows a tire and slams into the wall to bring out the fifth caution of the race. Leaders will make their way onto pit road.

Lap 110 -- Two-time Homestead winner Tony Stewart is running in second place, about 2 seconds behind Biffle.

Lap 105 -- Four of the championship contenders are running in the top 10: Gordon (fourth), Martin (sixth), Johnson (eighth) and Earnhardt Jr. (10th).

Lap 98 -- Green-flag racing resumes. Busch's problems shuffle the in-race point standings:
• 1. Gordon
• 2. Johnson (-11)
• 3. Busch (-55)
• 4. Martin (-83)
• 5. Earnhardt Jr. (-84)

Lap 93 -- Tire problem for Busch, who loses the right-front, which comes off the wheel. He pits -- and stays on the lead lap, but falls to 28th place as the fourth caution is displayed.

Lap 90 -- There has been two leaders: Kurt Busch (laps 1-4) and Greg Biffle (laps 5-90).

Lap 85 -- Thirty-six laps after pit stops, Johnson has moved into seventh place.

Lap 82 -- Biffle continues to hold a 2-second advantage over Busch, and Gordon is more than 5 seconds behind.

Lap 75 -- While Johnson continues to move forward (now ninth), Earnhardt Jr. is sliding back (12th). There are 32 cars still on the lead lap; six are one lap down.

Lap 67 -- The front-runners remain the same -- Biffle (who has led 63 laps), Busch, Newman and Gordon -- and Johnson has cracked the top 10.

Lap 62 -- Biffle and Busch continue to pace the field, while Gordon is fending off Newman for third place. Martin is battling Earnhardt Jr. for eighth and Johnson is running 13th.

Lap 53 -- Race resumes. The Chase title-contending drivers are running:
• 2nd -- Busch
• 3rd -- Gordon
• 9th -- Earnhardt
• 11th -- Martin
• 18th -- Johnson

Lap 49 -- The third caution of the day is displayed for debris on the track. The leaders will come in for pit stops. Biffle, Busch and Gordon are the first three off pit road.

Lap 40 -- Busch passes Newman for third place.

Lap 35 -- Johnson continues to move up, entering the top 20 on lap 31 -- but he's still about 18 seconds behind Biffle.

Lap 30 -- Greg Biffle clearly has the car to beat in the early stages. He has opened up more than a 2.7-seconds lead over Gordon.

Lap 22 -- Second-place Gordon leads the contending Chase drivers, followed by Kurt Busch (fourth), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (11th), Mark Martin (16th) and Jimmie Johnson (24th).

Lap 17 -- Biffle and Gordon continue to run 1-2, while Busch has dropped to fourth place.

Lap 13 -- Gordon overtakes Busch for second place.

Lap 10 -- The green flag flies with Biffle in front -- but Jeff Gordon is making a move toward the lead.

Lap 6 -- Biffle passes Busch for the lead ... and there's another crash deep in the field involving Robby Gordon, Jeff Burton, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Boris Said and Casey Mears.

Lap 5 -- The green flag waves with Busch, Biffle and Ryan Newman leading the pack.

Lap 1 -- Pole-sitter and Chase for the Cup point leader Kurt Busch takes the green flag alongside Roush Racing teammate Greg Biffle. ... Crash at the end of the field involving Mike Bliss and Hermie Sadler brings out the yellow -- and assures Busch of five bonus points for leading a lap.

The four other drivers still mathematically in the championship picture start:
• 5th -- Jeff Gordon (-21)
• 11th -- Mark Martin (-82)
• 16th -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. (-72)
• 39th -- Jimmie Johnson (-18)

Note: Only twice in NASCAR history has the point leader been overtaken in the final race of the season. It happened in 1979 when Richard Petty overtook Darrell Waltrip and again in '92 when Alan Kulwicki passed Davey Allison.