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.

Just this weekend, NASCAR said it would suspend all testing next year to help teams save millions in their 2009 budgets.

Had the crisis hit earlier, and the testing ban was in place this season, Johnson very well might not have won the title. He struggled at the start of the year in adapting to the full-time use of NASCAR's current car, so he and crew chief Chad Knaus embarked on an aggressive testing schedule that helped them catch the competition by late summer.

Second helpings

Just as he had done the night before in the Nationwide Series, Carl Edwards won the race at Homestead but came up short in the championship.

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By the time the Chase began in September, Johnson drove right past them.

"It's what we work for, it's what we do," said Knaus, the first crew chief to win three consecutive titles. "We don't want to do anything but race and win races and win championships."

Johnson solidified his legacy in typical fashion, with a huge assist from crew Knaus, who got the No. 48 Chevy out front under caution on Lap 201 with a two-tire call in the pits. With Edwards and others trying to stretch fuel mileage to the limit, Knaus called Johnson to the pits for a splash of gas on Lap 254 -- just for security.

Johnson ended the season with seven victories -- 22 total in his three championship seasons -- and finished the year with 40 career wins, good for 15th on the all-time list.

"From the first lap on track I knew we had a car that was in the ballpark and a car that I could drive to the front with," Johnson said. "I felt very, very good once the race started. There were a couple of points where it was dicey at times, but all in all, I really felt like I was in control of where this car was on the track.

"It's the ultimate reward. We worked so hard to put ourselves in this position. It is such a team sport. I can't thank Chad Knaus enough. It's total teamwork and dedication.

For Edwards, it was the second consecutive night he won the race, yet still came up empty in the championship bid. He won Saturday night's Nationwide Series event, but came up 21 points short of champion Clint Bowyer.

Edwards' win Sunday chopped 72 points off of Johnson's margin and he was optimistic as he crossed the finish line, radioing his Roush Fenway Racing team "we'll definitely get them next year."

"I don't know what to say," Edwards said. "Second place in the championship isn't what we came here for, but ... [Johnson] deserved to win. We got beat by a true champion."

And even though the 2009 season-opening Daytona 500 is three months away, Edwards already is hungry for the season to start.

"I wish Daytona was starting in 20 minutes," he said. "I want to race so bad. Nine [race wins] this season, seven in the Nationwide and real close in two championships. I can't wait to go."

Notes: Tony Stewart ended his 10-year association with Joe Gibbs Racing and crew chief Greg Zipadelli with a ninth-place finish at Homestead. In a career that began with three victories during his 1999 rookie season, Stewart accumulated 33 wins and two championships, in 2002 and 2005. As of Monday, he will turn his attention exclusively to his new role as owner/driver of Stewart-Haas Racing's Chevrolets. ... Robby Gordon jettisoned his regular pit crew in favor of the over-the-wall gang from Roger Penske's No. 77 car, which did not make the race. In the past several weeks, owner/driver Gordon felt his crew had cost him vital positions in his fight to stay in the top 35 in owner points. The top 35 at season's end are guaranteed starting spots in the first five races of 2009. Gordon finished 26th and remained 34th in points. ... After 14 consecutive seasons with at least one victory, Jeff Gordon finished the season without a win.

Post-Race Interviews
• Video: Johnson | Edwards

The Associated Press contributed to this report.