Johnson makes good in NASCAR clincher

Jason Smith, Getty Images

Raising the Sprint Cup trophy elevated three-time champion Jimmie Johnson into elite company.

The Hendrick Motorsports star tied Cale Yarborough’s record and said his team is ready to go for one more.

By JENNA FRYER, Associated Press

Last update: November 17, 2008 - 12:45 AM

HOMESTEAD, FLA. – Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus never slowed down enough to consider what a record-tying third consecutive championship would mean to their legacy.

Don’t count on them doing it now.

After tying Cale Yarborough’s 30-year mark as the only driver with three consecutive championships, Johnson and his crew chief were already thinking about going after No. 4.

“I could go race again next week and start the season and go for four,” Johnson said after Sunday’s finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “It’s on our minds. It’s not that we’re chasing a number, we just know what we’re capable of.”

Knaus, the first crew chief in series history to win three in a row, even offered to report to work Monday morning to start their pursuit.
He was only partly kidding.

“We want four. Why not? That’s why we’re here,” Knaus said. “We can definitely bid for four. Give me a reason why not.”

Carl Edwards could offer a reason or two after winning Sunday’s race — his series-best ninth victory of the season — only to fall 69 points short of wresting the Sprint Cup trophy away from Johnson. Edwards led a race-high 157 laps, and won despite running out of gas as he crossed the finish line.

Johnson won the title by finishing 15th.

“We won more races than Jimmie [seven], and we ran with him when he won,” Edwards said. “I know they’ll enjoy this championship, but they knew we were here.”

Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team have 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.

Edwards was a gracious runner-up. After his trademark celebratory backflip, he walked over to Johnson’s passing car on the track to congratulate him.

“At least we can lay our heads down tonight and know we won some races and just got beaten by a true champion,” Edwards said.

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