2007 Chase of the Nextel Cup - Hendrick Motorsports Does it Again

The Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup is over. Once again, Hendrick Motorsports and driver Jimmie Johnson have risen to the top of the pack to show both excellent driving skills and team ownership. Johnson duplicated his teammate, Jeff Gordon with back-to-back championships in his sixth NASCAR season. This was not something magical that happened or jumped out of a hat. The 48 Lowe's Chevrolet team has been at the top of their game since the season began.

Jimmie Johnson sat on the pole only three times during the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season but brought home 10 victories. His winning streak began at Las Vegas back in March and was quickly repeated the following week at Atlanta, then again two weeks later at Martinsville. Three wins down and it was only the beginning of April. An accident put him out of the race in Texas, but 3 weeks later with a victory at Richmond, Jimmie Johnson had won 4 out of the 10 races.

It was a long hot summer for Johnson though. The team and driver were faltering. June and July came and went with not a single win for the 48 Lowe's team. August showed great improvement over the previous 2 months with 3 top-5 finishes for the team. By the time, September rolled around the team was aching for another win. And after a 14 race dry spell they got it at California and again as the swept the season at Richmond. In just those 2 races, Johnson went from 6^th in the points standing to number 1.

As five more races passed it seemed as though this teams went from hot to cold with the flip of a switch, but that all changed once the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series hit Martinsville. Again, Jimmie Johnson and his team swept the season at another track, but that was just the beginning. The following week at Atlanta, Jimmie Johnson got another victory. This team was on fire, two more victories at Texas and Phoenix lead to tight points race between Johnson and team mate Jeff Gordon. As they entered into the last race at Miami Homestead, they were separated by just 86 points. Even though Jeff Gordon and his 24 DuPont Chevrolet finished 4^th to Johnson's 7^th it was not enough to close the spread between first and second place for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.

With 10 wins in the season, Jimmie Johnson and team owner Rick Hendrick took home the NASCAR Nextel Cup along with Jimmie's paycheck of 6.7 million dollars. Will Joe Gibbs move to Toyota be enough to fight back next year?