Editor’s Note: NASCAR is celebrating its 75th anniversary. SPEED SPORT was founded in 1934 and was already on its way to becoming America’s Motorsports Authority when NASCAR was formed. As a result, we will bring you Part 63 of a 75-part series on the history NASCAR.
Jimmie Johnson rallied from 33 points behind with two races remaining and won his fifth-consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.
While Johnson secured the title with a second-place finish in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the season was not the typical one of domination by the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet team.
With two races remaining in the Chase, crew chief Chad Knaus replaced the team’s pit crew with that of the No. 24 Jeff Gordon team.
Though Johnson was second to Denny Hamlin in most statistical categories, including victories, his six triumphs helped him to the title as he ended up 39 points ahead of Hamlin, collecting the 10th Sprint Cup title for Hendrick Motorsports in what was the closest title fight since 1992.
Johnson said the fifth title may have been the team’s greatest accomplishment.
“I think this takes the lead. Just the circumstances, it’s not that the other Chases weren’t competitive,” he explained. “We were stronger, I think; in the previous two Chases, at least. Maybe all four.
“But this one, I’m just so proud because there were times on Saturday nights when we would get together and discuss our race car after practice. and we would have some tough conversations. and just struggled to get what we needed.”
Hamlin won eight times for Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota but averaged a 13th-place finish over the final two races of the season.
Kevin Harvick won three races for Richard Childress Racing and wound up third in the standings, while Carl Edwards won the final two races of the season for Roush Fenway Racing and placed fourth in the standings.
Jamie McMurray won arguably the two biggest races of the season for Chip Ganassi Racing. McMurray won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Kyle Busch picked up three victories en route to eighth in the standings, while Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch each won a pair of races.
A pothole that developed between the first and second turns of Daytona lnt’l Speedway saw the Daytona 500, which was won by McMurray, delayed two hours and 24 minutes for repairs. The hole forced resurfacing of the historic 2.5-mile superspeedway, the first repaving of the track since 1978.
Brian Vickers left the Team Red Bull No. 83 team in May because of blood clots in his lungs and legs, and later had heart surgery to address a small hole between atria in his heart.
After two seasons NASCAR kicked the rear wing utilized on its so-called Car of Tomorrow to the curb following the fifth race of the season, replacing it with a modern version of the traditional spoiler that had been affixed on the rear deck lid of NASCAR stock cars for decades.
Kyle Busch became the first to sweep all three national series events at one track on the same weekend, claiming Camping World Truck, Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series victories at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in August.
Other race winners were Ryan Newman, David Reutimann and Juan Pablo Montoya.