Chase Recap

Jimmie Johnson raced to his Cup Series-best sixth victory of the season, winning at Richmond on Sept. 8 to shore up the top seed in the Chase.

After a brief summer swoon, Johnson rallied to win at California on Sept. 2 and then completed a season sweep at Richmond. The defending series champion said the streak would send him into the Chase with the momentum to hold off the 11 other challengers.

"Everything is working right now," he said. "We're happy to be hitting our stride at this point in the season."

Although Jeff Gordon dominated the standings all season long, his points lead was vanquished because Johnson, his teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, won two more races than Gordon did.

2007 CHASE REVIEW

• Jimmie Johnson held the points lead for the first Chase race based on his six victories through the first 26 races of the season.

• Johnson held the number one position based on the tiebreaker of six wins to Jeff Gordon's four following the first Chase race.

• Gordon assumed the points lead at Dover with Johnson retaking the top spot after Kansas.

• The third change in the point leader took place at Talladega when Gordon moved back into the lead.

• The fourth change in the point leader came after Texas with Johnson regaining the lead by 30 points.

• The 77-point margin that Johnson claimed the Cup championship by was the largest margin in the history of the Chase.

LOUDON | Photo Gallery | Video Highlights

Autostock

Clint Bowyer emerged victorious in his 64th Cup Series start.

Clint Bowyer completely dominated at Loudon, leading 222 of the 300 laps, en route to his first career Cup Series victory. It was the fourth time in the four Chases that the initial race was won by a Chase driver and the second consecutive year that the winner drove a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Other Chase drivers faired well with the top-seven positions being claimed by drivers competing for the 2007 championship but three Chase drivers failed to finish on the lead lap. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon came out of the event tied in championship points (5,210) with Johnson claiming the lead in the standings on the first tie breaker (six wins to Gordon's four).

Kurt Busch dropped to the 12th position, 102 points out of the lead, with a 25th-place finish -- one lap behind the winner.

DOVER | Photo Gallery | Video Highlights

Autostock

Carl Edwards' elation was tempered after post-race inspection revealed a rules infraction.

It was feast of famine for the Chase drivers at Dover in the second race of the Chase. Carl Edwards outlasted the field to post his third victory of the season while Matt Kenseth saw a dominating day go to waste after losing the engine late in the event after leading 192 laps.

Only six drivers managed to finish on the lap with Edwards and Kyle Busch the only Chase drivers to do so. Jeff Burton (seventh) and Tony Stewart (10th) made four Chase drivers in the top 10. Denny Hamlin was involved in a mid-race accident that eventually dropped him to a 38th-place finish, the lowest of the 12 Chase drivers.

Jimmie Johnson lost the points lead to Jeff Gordon but the top five were separated by just 10 points and only 158 markers stood between Gordon and 12th-place Hamlin.

Note: Edwards received a mid-week penalty for his car being too low in post-race tech. The 25-point penalty dropped him from third to sixth in the point standings.

KANSAS | Photo Gallery | Video Highlights

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Winner Greg Biffle was the third lead-lap car to cross the finish line under yellow.

Greg Biffle became the first non-Chase driver to win a Chase race in 2007, the third time in four Chase races that a Kansas event was won by a driver not eligible for the championship.

Kansas was the first ever Chase race to be shortened by weather with a rain-delay causing the race to be cut from 267 to 210 laps.

Two late-race incidents ruined strong runs by several Chase drivers and only four of the 12 championship contenders posted top-10 finishes: Clint Bowyer (second), Jimmie Johnson (third), Jeff Gordon (fifth) and Kevin Harvick (sixth).

Six Chase drivers finished 35th or worse. Johnson re-assumed the point lead by just five points over Gordon and 14 over Bowyer. Tony Stewart sat in fourth but trailed by 117 markers while Denny Hamlin brought up the rear of the Chase -- 248 points off Johnson's pace.

TALLADEGA | Photo Gallery | Video Highlights

Autostock

Jeff Gordon's victory made him only the sixth Cup Series driver to eclipse the 80-win mark.

Jeff Gordon won at 'Dega, making it 3-for-4 on Chase driver victories in the 2007 Chase. Major problems for Chase drivers again over-shadowed the actual outcome of the race in spite of a sterling last-lap pass by Gordon on Jimmie Johnson (second) for the victory.

Motor problems saw Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Burton failing to complete the event after their engines expired and finishing in the last two positions -- the first time ever that a Chase driver finished last in a Chase race.

"The Big One" caught three Chase drivers: Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth as well as eight other drivers on lap 144, with Busch and Kenseth also posting DNFs while Hamlin recovered to finish fourth.

Kurt Busch (seventh) and Tony Stewart (eighth) gave half of the top-10 finishing spots to Chase drivers.

The point lead changed hands for the fourth consecutive time with Gordon leading Johnson by just nine markers.

CHARLOTTE | Photo Gallery | Video Highlights

AP

Jeff Gordon's win at Charlotte was his first at the track since Oct. 11, 1999.

Jeff Gordon posted back-to-back victories for the second time in 2007, with his win at Charlotte. The victory, coupled with a 14th-place showing by Jimmie Johnson, extended Gordon's lead to 68 points.

Twenty-six lead changes among 11 drivers punctuated the on-track competition with all but 42 of the 337 laps being led by Chase drivers.

Fifteen cautions extended the race past the four-hour mark and the race by three laps. That set up a late race battle between Gordon and Clint Bowyer for the checkered flag and each of the top-five finishing positions were filed by Chase drivers. Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton and Carl Edwards followed the top two across the line with Tony Stewart also posting a top-10 finish.

Kevin Harvick crossed the line in 33rd -- seven laps off the pace, the lowest of the Chase drivers.

MARTINSVILLE | Photo Gallery | Video Highlights

Autostock

Jimmie Johnson completed a season sweep at Martinsville -- his third consecutive win at the .526-mile track.

Jimmie Johnson won his seventh race of the season and his first in the Chase with a repeat victory at Martinsville.

Johnson and Jeff Gordon continued to dominate the Chase with a replicate of the season's first Martinsville race 1-2 finish being spoiled when Ryan Newman slipped in to the second position late in the event.

It was the second consecutive Chase race to go beyond the scheduled distance as six additional laps were required to complete the event. Kyle Busch (fourth), Matt Kenseth (fifth), Denny Hamlin (sixth), Clint Bowyer (ninth) and Kevin Harvick (10th) brought the total number of Chase drivers in the top-10 to a record-tying seven.

Chase drivers again dominated the leader board -- pacing all but 34 of the 506 laps raced. Kurt Busch struggled to a 31st-place finish and was the lowest finishing Chase driver. Johnson cut 15 points off Gordon's lead with the victory.

ATLANTA | Photo Gallery | Video Highlights

Autostock

Jimmie Johnson also swept Atlanta -- and has finished outside the top six only once in the past nine races at the track.

Jimmie Johnson posted back-to-back victories for the third time in 2007, winning at Atlanta. Continuing what had become a trend, the event was extended beyond the prescribed distance by a late race caution and the Chase drivers completely set the pace, leading all but seven of the 329 laps were paced by Chase drivers.

Denny Hamlin saw his chance for victory slipped away when the No. 11 Chevrolet ran out of gas with just four to go. Johnson dashed around the faltering Hamlin to take the lead and held on through two cautions in the final five laps to cinch the victory. Adding insult to injury, Hamlin's sputtering machine was rammed by that of Martin Truex Jr. and both dropped off the lead lap. Kyle Busch also received damage in the ensuing jockeying.

Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch posted top-10 finishes while Truex was the lowest finishing Chase driver at 31st.

The victory allowed Johnson to erase another 42 markers off Gordon's lead with just nine points separating the top-two with three races remaining in the Chase. That amounted to the closest margin between first and second in the history of the Chase.

TEXAS | Photo Gallery | Video Highlights

Autostock

Jimmie Johnson nipped Matt Kenseth by .944 seconds at Texas for his third consecutive win in the Chase.

Jimmie Johnson scored his third consecutive victory, claiming the checkered flag at Texas. It was just the third time in the four-year history of the Chase that a driver had won three races in a row, both by Johnson who had three consecutive wins in the inaugural Chase in 2004.

Johnson also vaulted back into the lead in the championship point standings as Jeff Gordon finished seventh in back-to-back races. Johnson moved 30 points ahead of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and Clint Bowyer dropped to 151 markers off the lead.

Twenty-eight lead changes punctuated the event with eight Chase drivers pacing 298 of the 334 laps. A record-tying eight Chase drivers posted top-10 finishes.

All 12 Chase drivers were running at the finish but Carl Edwards crossed the line in 26th and Denny Hamlin finished 29th, both multiple laps off the lead lap.

The race for the championship dwindled to a contest among just six drivers as half of the Chase field was mathematically eliminated with two races remaining.

PHOENIX | Photo Gallery | Video Highlights

Autostock

Jeff Gordon conceded the championship after Jimmie Johnson's fourth win in a row.

Jimmie Johnson continued his quest for the championship at Phoenix -- winning his fourth consecutive race and extending his lead in the point standings to 86 markers, the largest lead entering the final race of the season since the Chase began in 2004.

A record setting nine Chase drivers finished in the top-10, with Greg Biffle being the only non-Chase driver to make the top-10 and the pattern of Chase drivers dominating the head of the pack continued with 307 of 312 laps being led by Chase drivers.

Johnson kept the No. 48 within striking distance for most of the race, taking the lead for the second of his two times on the point with 23 laps to go. He moved out to a margin of victory of almost a full second over Biffle.

Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon never got the No. 24 on track and in spite of a 10th-place finish fell further behind Johnson. Other than Gordon, only Clint Bowyer, 151 points back, was mathematically still eligible for the championship.

HOMESTEAD | Photo Gallery | Video Highlights

Autostock

Matt Kenseth and crew chief Robbie Reiser's final race ended with a trip to Victory Lane.

Matt Kenseth won the season-finale at Homestead, but Jimmie Johnson did more than he needed to do -- posting a seventh-place finish to secure his second consecutive championship. Johnson won the pole and charged out to lead the first lap before settling in a little further back in the top 10 for most of the race.

A dominating performance by Kenseth, who led 214 of 267 laps, was almost anti-climatic Johnson's lowest position was 19th just after a cycle of green-flag pit stops was interrupted by one of the seven caution flags.

Chase drivers swept the top-five positions and seven of the top-10. With only three cars failing to finish the event -- the championship still hung in reasonable doubt until late in the event, but in reality it was just a matter of time as Johnson kept the only driver who could spoil his championship, teammate Jeff Gordon, in sight.

Gordon finished fourth for a modern era record 30th top-10 but it was all for naught as Johnson held on for a 77-point margin in the final tally.