Johnson wins third title in a row to match Yarborough

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Carl Edwards did everything he could, but Jimmie Johnson made sure Edwards' best wasn't good enough.

Edwards led the most laps and won Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to score his series-best ninth victory of the season, but Johnson claimed the big prize -- his record-tying third consecutive Cup Series title -- with a 15th-place finish that gave him a 69-point advantage over Edwards in the final standings (watch video).

Saving every drop of fuel he could, Edwards coasted across the finish line 7.548 seconds ahead of Kevin Harvick (watch video), who also conserved fuel after his final pit stop on Lap 201 of the 267-lap race. Jamie McMurray was third, followed by Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer.

Though Johnson's accomplishment comes in a different era and under a different scoring system from that used in Cale Yarborough's 1976-1978 run, the dominance of No. 48 team has been arguably more difficult to achieve, given the heightened level of competition in today's Cup Series.

Yarborough won his three titles in a very different NASCAR. He accomplished his feat when drivers scraped together the cash they needed to race, and the champion was the guy on top at the end of a long grueling season.

Johnson's titles have been won in the glitzy new Chase format, where the best drivers compete over a 10-race sprint to the title.

Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team have mastered the system, proving themselves unbeatable in their pursuit of Yarborough's mark. They've won their titles with consistency -- he finished outside the top 10 just twice in this Chase, a 15th-place finish at Texas -- and by winning eight of the last 30 Chase races.

They've also gotten very rich along the way: Johnson has won more than $2 million in the 10 Chase races this year. Yarborough notched a combined $1.63 million in all three of his championship seasons.

Although the industry was keenly aware of its front row seat to history, the celebration seemed subdued because of the economic crisis that's finally found its way to NASCAR. The Big Three automakers are crumbling, car owners are struggling to find sponsorship, and widespread layoffs are expected Monday, when teams could combine to let go what's been estimated as up to 1,000 employees. (Continued)