Johnson joins elite company with seventh NASCAR title

PHOTOGRAPHER: USA Today

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson celebrates winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship Sunday with his win in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Jimmie Johnson joined the two biggest names in NASCAR history — Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt — as seven-time Cup season champions Sunday night.

Johnson, who struggled most of the day to find speed to keep up with the other three Chase finalists, caught a fortuitous break late in the race to win the Ford EcoBoost 400 and the bigger prize, the 2016 Cup title.

“Some luck came our way and we were able to win the championship,” Johnson told NBC Sports after the race. “I am so thankful and blessed. I am at a loss for words.

“It wasn’t going to be our night tonight the way things were going. It means the world to me to tie Earnhardt and Petty. . . . I hope to carry the banner and the torch as they have.”

Johnson easily won a two-lap shootout at Homestead-Miami Speedway after a caution came out when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. lost control. Kyle Larson finished second and Kevin Harvick third. Joey Logano was the closest Chase finalist to Johnson, finishing fourth.

The race-defining incident came with 10 laps to go when Chase finalist Carl Edwards tried to block Logano on a restart, then got loose and his car went flying into the wall.

The incident knocked Edwards — who was in best position to win the title — out of the race and left Logano’s Ford with right front damage and pushed back to eighth on the restart.

“He came down right in front of me,” Logano said on his team radio.

Martin Truex Jr.’s car ended up in flames as well during the bumper-cars scenario. None of the drivers were seriously hurt.

Edwards walked out of his car and went over to Logano’s pit crew and shook hands with crew members. Edwards owned the mistake, refusing to lay complete blame on Logano.

“I feel it was just racing,” Edwards told NBC Sports. “First of all, that was the race of my life up to that point. . . . I just pushed the issue as far as I could because I knew that was the race there.”

The race was red-flagged — stopped immediately, regardless of the cars’ position on the track — with 10 laps to go. The incident caused a delay of 31 minutes.

“It’s a product of a format that’s based on putting everything and risking everything,” said Brad Keselowski, Logano’s teammate. “I don’t know. It’s not really all that surprising. It’s disappointing. I don’t think that’s great racing, but I understand why it happened on both ends.”

The incident preceded a caution that came out with 15 laps to go when Dylan Luton’s car cut a tire. On the ensuing pit stops, Busch’s team wasn’t in sync and lost a few seconds when the rear tire changer slipped, dropping Busch from third to sixth place.

“I know that I’m as close to this opportunity as I’ve ever been, but I’m not climbing in that car Sunday saying, ’I’ve got to win seven,’ ” Johnson said before the race. “I’m saying, ’I’ve got to win a championship.’ It’s my own personal thing that I want to do.

“It’s something that even though I have the six, this year and the last couple of years, the group of guys that have come together the way we’ve worked together, the way all of Hendrick Motorsports has worked together, there’s something that’s kind of crazy to even say, but at least in the way I’m living my life right now, there’s something bigger than that seven that’s going on, so it’s much more vivid in my mind.”