Title belongs to Johnson, but '07 belonged to Junior

He has a second consecutive championship and the big silver trophy, and next week will receive a check worth several million dollars. The 2007 season concluded as it began, with Jimmie Johnson as the man to beat. He fully deserves it -- you seize control of a title hunt by winning four in a row and erasing a 68-point lead by the sport's most successful active driver, and you've earned it, brother. Sure, Johnson got an assist from the system. But he still needed to produce results, which he and his No. 48 team did unquestionably.

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By winning his second consecutive championship, something no one has done in a decade, Johnson propelled himself toward greatness. But even those historic exploits weren't enough to unseat another driver as the year's top newsmaker, one who didn't make the Chase or even win a race. Yes, the title belongs to Johnson. But the season was dominated by Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose divorce from the team his late father founded and alliance with the sport's top organization consumed 2007 from beginning to end.

The story had a massive, 11-month arc. In January, Dale Jr. and his stepmother, Dale Earnhardt Inc. owner Teresa Earnhardt, appeared on stage together during the sport's media tour, and played nice for the public. One month later, Dale was demanding 51 percent of the company. We learned that Dale and Teresa couldn't be in the same room with one another, and that newly installed company president Max Siegel was trying desperately to keep it all from coming apart.

Which eventually it did, with spectacular results. In May, Dale announced he was leaving DEI. Everybody wanted a seat at the table -- Richard Childress, Joe Gibbs, even Bobby Ginn, who played the role of ornery upstart before selling out and leaving dozens of employees in the lurch. In June, Earnhardt announced that "my new boss" was Rick Hendrick, the soon-to-be seven-time championship car owner and overseer of NASCAR's top team. Both sides beamed. At last, the soap opera was over.

But it wasn't. There was still wrangling to be done over Junior's car number, and a failed bid to secure the No. 8 from DEI that crystallized just how at odds Dale Jr. and his stepmother were. There was the acquisition of crew chief Tony Eury Jr. There was that test session at Atlanta, when Earnhardt slipped into Hendrick gear for the first time. There were all those engine failures, all those unfounded rumors of bad parts and sabotage, and that unfulfilling finish last week at Homestead that was a microcosm of the whole year.

And there were the aftereffects. Because of Junior's move, Hendrick had to bump Kyle Busch, who moved to Joe Gibbs Racing to replace J.J. Yeley, who unseated Tony Raines at Hall of Fame Racing. DEI absorbed Ginn's team, adding Mark Martin, Aric Almirola and Regan Smith, and leaving Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek jobless. Mountain Dew and National Guard replaced Budweiser, which replaced Dodge Dealers on Kasey Kahne's car. Casey Mears was moved from Hendrick's No. 25 team to its No. 5. And Tony Gibson, Eury's understudy at DEI, became a crew chief.

Some people are quick to dismiss Junior, claiming he's a media creation or that he's living off his father's name or that he hasn't won enough to deserve all the attention he receives. But to all those thousands of people in the grandstands who wore red No. 8 apparel, he matters. He's important enough that when he's not winning, television numbers drop. And he's influential enough that when he makes decisions, hundreds of little dominoes fall. Just as we all witnessed this year.

The rest of the top 10 stories of 2007:

2. Gordon's year
Four-time champ Jeff Gordon built a massive championship lead and had it taken away from him by the system. He built a little championship lead and had it taken away from him by a teammate. He collected top-10 finishes like loose change. He had a baby. He smiled through all of it.

3. Back-to-back
Johnson became the first driver to win consecutive titles since Gordon did it in 1997-98. He achieved it in impressive fashion, winning four consecutive races in the Chase to take control, and never letting up.

4. Tomorrow is now
It was tough to adjust. It was hard to handle. The protective foam caught on fire. Crew chiefs were fined and suspended for finagling with it. From a technical standpoint, nothing dominated 2007 more than the Car of Tomorrow, that rolling work in progress, which as of now is the standard Sprint Cup chassis. Enjoy it, boys.

5. Montoya's mark
He won a Busch race at Mexico City, won a Nextel Cup race at Infineon Raceway, and nearly snatched an oval-track victory at Indianapolis. Along the way, former Formula One star and Indy 500 champ Juan Montoya collected a handful of top-10s, and showed an aggressive driving style that enraged some and made others think of the late Dale Earnhardt. It was all fun to watch.

6. Open-wheel invasion
Montoya might have made it look too easy. Now here come Dario Franchitti, Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier, all ready to try the same thing. Who's next, Kimi Raikkonen? Fernando Alonso? The ghost of Juan Manuel Fangio? And meanwhile, some talented late-model driver on a local track never gets discovered.

7. Inauspicious debut
You knew it was going to be a tough year for Toyota when its flagship team was hammered by NASCAR for using a fuel additive prior to the Daytona 500. The entire season was a struggle, full of missed races and low finishes that made you wonder where the beast's teeth were. They come out next year in the form of Joe Gibbs Racing.

8. Fear and loathing on Fridays
For teams outside the top 35 in owner points, Fridays were the whole race weekend. With the arrival of Toyota and the influx of more fully-funded teams, qualifying day brought hand-wringing on an epic scale. Yet strangely, those struggles attracted attention; for the first half of the season, at least, who was in or out on Friday was a big story.

9. Tuning out?
Look at all those empty seats! Look at all those low television numbers! Some Uruguayan blog reports that Brian France is going to sell NASCAR to a European banking consortium and go buy an NFL team! They sky is falling! The sky is falling! Until Dale Jr. wins a few races, that is.

10. Part time, no problem
For Mark Martin, the livin' was easy. The veteran proved that a part-time schedule could work, nearly winning the Daytona 500 and running well enough that he hung around the edges of Chase contention despite having fewer starts than everyone else. Hopefully, he can continue the trend next year at DEI.

Surprises

3. Dave Blaney
Michael Waltrip Racing had the names. Team Red Bull had the bottomless pockets. But among all the Toyota teams, only Blaney has the guaranteed starting spot for the first five races of next year. Driving Bill Davis' No. 22 car, his four top-10s and one pole were relatively modest accomplishments. But he finished seven spots ahead of the next Toyota driver in the point standings, and won't have to worry about missing the Daytona 500.

2. Martin Truex Jr.
Who would lead Dale Earnhardt Inc. after Earnhardt Jr. moved on? That question hung in the air for about a week, until the other Junior won at Dover to ignite a furious second half that resulted in a Chase berth. His timing was impeccable, and critical to an organization that will be very green next season. What clicked? Who knows. But Truex evolved from project to contender just as his team needed it most.

1. Clint Bowyer
Just Clint, as the folks back in Emporia, Kan., still call him, seemed on the brink of winning races all year. But nobody expected him to emerge as a championship contender, and finish third in the Chase behind the Hendrick two-headed monster of Johnson and Gordon. No question, the kid can drive it. Now comes the hard part: Backing it up next year.

Disappointments

3. The Chase
Sorry, NASCAR, but the boys in the garage have this thing figured out. Even with some added bonuses for race wins, the system almost promotes conservatism, the very thing it's designed to prevent. With every year, there's less suspense in the cut-off race at Richmond. With every year, there's less suspense in the finale at Homestead. How much longer will those trends continue?

2. Gillett Evernham Motorsports
Is this really the same organization that placed drivers in the Chase in 2004, 2005 and 2006? A team that once seemed on the brink of playing with the big boys has collapsed, with Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler managing only one top-five finish between them all year. Errors in car development set the team back, and the addition of primary owner George Gillett has led to some curious moves  like giving the unproven Carpentier a full-time ride  that lead us to wonder if founder Ray Evernham is making as many decisions as he should be.

1. ESPN
The all-sports network was supposed to be the savior, the one entity that appealed to old-schoolers who remembered when only ESPN cared about NASCAR, and held the potential to attract the casual fans the sport craves. Instead, ESPN's return to NASCAR was a muddled mess, with too many voices, ridiculous graphics, and startling gaffes in production. Perhaps it's time to unplug Draft Tracker, cut loose Suzy Kolber, Brent Musberger, and Brad Daugherty, and concentrate on all those missed restarts. Stop trying to turn it into the Olympics, gang. Take a cue from CBS's NFL coverage, and let the action tell the story.

With little fanfare before his entry to Cup and now with back-to-back championships, David Caraviello says Jimmie Johnson may be the sport's most impressive discovery.

• Complete story, click here
• How the Chase was won
• Johnson's '07 dominance
• Estes: From the champ's pit
• Cross: Face of Nextel Cup era

Awards

Driver of the Year: Gordon
Sure, his teammate won the title. But there's something to be said for a guy who had 30 top-10 finishes in 36 races, had an average finish of 5.1 in the Chase, and would have won the title under the old system. Having a cute baby doesn't hurt.

• Runner-up: Johnson. The machine shows no sign of slowing down.

• Honorable mention: Montoya, who rarely looked lost in his first season in stock-cars, and set the bar for all the open-wheel expatriates to follow with a victory and six top-10 finishes.

Crew Chief of the Year: Gil Martin, RCR
The savvy, laid-back Martin helped the often excitable Bowyer to a breakthrough season and third-place points finish.

• Runner-up: Chad Knaus, the Evernham of today.

• Honorable mention: Doug Randolph, who breathed some life into Petty Enterprises before bolting to DEI.

Owner of the Year: Rick Hendrick
His four drivers all won races, and finished first, second, fifth and 15th and final points. Plus, he gets Junior.

• Runner-up: Richard Childress, who placed all three members of his stable in the Chase.

• Honorable mention: Jack Roush, who has a solid 2008 title threat in Matt Kenseth, a fleet of other contenders, and was somehow able to convince NASCAR to let him expand to seven cars. Sort of.

Race of the Year: Centurion Boats at the Glen, Watkins Glen
Montoya and Kevin Harvick crash and get into it. Gordon has the thing won until he overshoots the first turn at the end. Great action from start to finish, and a solid argument for more road-course racing on the schedule.

• Runner-up: Daytona 500. Plenty of controversy, especially at the end.

• Honorable mention: Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, just for the fabulous Johnson vs. Kenseth finish.

Early 2008 championship pick: Johnson
Get used to it. The New England Patriots of NASCAR have the new chassis figured out better than anyone, Knaus is an unparalleled mechanical genius regardless of what people think of him, and Johnson is the clear favorite to tie Cale Yarborough's mark of three titles in a row.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.