Jimmie Johnson celebrates after winning the series championship after Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Photo by NASCAR via Getty Images
The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season came to a close Sunday night as Denny Hamlin hoisted the winners trophy and Jimmie Johnson was crowned a the Sprint Cup Champion for the sixth time in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Hamlin passed Dale Earnhardt, Jr. with 25 laps to go and pulled away to beat out championship contender Matt Kenseth by nearly a full second to score his 23rd-career Sprint Cup victory and his first since September of 2012 at Louden, ending a 43-race winless streak.
Earnhardt, Jr. finished third, followed by Martin Truex, Jr. and Clint Bowyer.
Johnson, having to finish 23rd or better to clinch the title, brought his no. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS home in ninth place, taking the championship by 19 points over Kenseth in the final race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, leaving him just one title shy of tying the mark of seven championships shared by Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt, Sr.
“I am at a loss for words, but I am so proud, and so thankful for this opportunity at Hendrick Motorsports,” said Johnson. “Thankful that Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick gave me this opportunity back in 2002. This sport is about people and our people at Hendrick Motorsports, especially on this 48 car, rose up and got the job done. I am so thankful to be able to drive for this race team, and so honored and so excited to have a six-pack.
“I feel like these five years were a blur, and things happened so fast. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it or appreciate it or didn’t respect what happened. It just went by so fast, it seems like. I’m really going to slow things down here and enjoy it. This is so, so sweet.”
Denny Hamlin poses with the winner’s trophy after winning at Homestead. Photo by NASCAR via Getty Images
For Hamlin, Sunday’s win marked one of the few bright spots in his 2013 season, which started out with high hopes after finishing as a strong championship contender the last three seasons.
But, after suffering a back injury following a crash at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana in March, Hamlin was forced to sit out the next four races, virtually wiping out any chance of making the Chase field. He finishes the season 23rd in points, his worst points finish since making just seven starts in 2005.
“Yeah, it’s been a horrible year. I was going to be counting down the laps,” said Hamlin. “I knew on my first run right away that we were going to have a shot. If the strategy didn’t go our way, we fell back, but when we were able to drive back up to the front, I knew (crew chief) Darian (Grubb) gave me a car capable of winning.
“As bad as the year is, we can take a little solace in this finish. Spend these next two months regrouping, getting our team back in order. I feel like there’s no reason why we can’t shoot out of the gates in ’14 like we did in 2010 after winning here in 2009.”
At the start of the race, all eyes were on the championship battle, as Johnson, Kenseth and Kevin Harvick – still mathematically in the title hunt – started in the top ten with Kenseth starting on the pole.
Starting in seventh place in the 267-lap event, Johnson ran a steady race, running in the top ten most of night much to the chagrin of Kenseth, who could never seem to make up any ground in the point with Johnson running near the front.
Johnson’s only real scare came on a restart with 73 laps to go, when teammate Jeff Gordon spun his tires while restarting second, wading up the field behind him and causing Johnson to fall back as far as 21st in the field with minor damage to his left-front fender.
Johnson and his crew didn’t panic, pitted on the next caution flag to repair the damage, and continued to climb back through the field and back into the top 10 with 40 laps to go.
Flames envelope the rear of Paul Menard’s car after the right rear tire exploded, setting off this fire. No one was injured. Photo by NASCAR via Getty Images
Besides the championship battle, the only other real drama of the night came on lap 232, when Paul Menard came to pit road with the right rear of his Chevrolet on fire.
As his crew came around to change tires and deal with the fire, the right rear tire exploded from the searing heat, enveloping the rear of the car in flames. Fire crews quickly doused the flames, and there were no injuries, although the no. 27 car was done for the night.
Up front, Johnson rallied back into the top ten while Kenseth powered past Earnhardt, Jr. to take second, but with Johnson running strong there was no way to make up any more ground, leaving the former 2003 champion as a championship runner-up for the second time in his career.
“It was a really fun night,” said Kenseth. “Obviously both of us sitting here wanted to come up with a win. If Jimmie would have got a flat or something that would have been okay there at the end, too.
“Jimmie (Johnson) and that team are obviously unbelievable. Never seen anything like this in the sport and probably will never see anything like it again. It’s amazing with as tight as the rules are, multi-car teams, information sharing, and all that stuff. It’s amazing they can figure out how to do that year after year.”
Kevin Harvick finished tenth in the race and ended the year third in the point standings for the third time in four years. Kyle Busch ended the year fourth, followed by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. finished the night in 22nd and clinched the rookie of the year honors.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Homestead-Miami Speedway – Homestead, FL
Ford EcoBoost 400 – Nov. 17, 2013
1. (5) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, $322350.
2. (1) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 267, $293251.
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4. (8) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 267, $174235.
5. (25) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 267, $167968.
6. (4) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, $156701.
7. (11) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267, $140293.
8. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, $119518.
9. (7) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, $134221.
10. (6) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 267, $126246.
11. (26) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 267, $123596.
12. (18) Carl Edwards, Ford, 267, $115435.
13. (13) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 267, $94060.
14. (10) Elliott Sadler(i), Toyota, 267, $88110.
15. (20) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 267, $107593.
16. (19) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267, $116421.
17. (15) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 267, $113343.
18. (27) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 267, $105999.
19. (22) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 267, $121585.
20. (24) Danica Patrick #, Chevrolet, 267, $80935.
21. (2) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 267, $104255.
22. (9) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #, Ford, 267, $122396.
23. (14) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 267, $85360.
24. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 267, $91660.
25. (30) Parker Kligerman(i), Toyota, 267, $93543.
26. (23) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 267, $103724.
27. (31) David Gilliland, Ford, 266, $90368.
28. (40) Casey Mears, Ford, 266, $95568.
29. (29) David Ragan, Ford, 266, $93157.
30. (28) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 265, $103230.
31. (32) David Reutimann, Toyota, 265, $74685.
32. (37) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 264, $71960.
33. (39) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 264, $71760.
34. (41) Ken Schrader, Ford, 263, $71560.
35. (42) Joe Nemechek(i), Toyota, 263, $71360.
36. (36) AJ Allmendinger, Toyota, 257, $79135.
37. (33) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 248, $78912.
38. (38) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 242, $65750.
39. (12) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, Accident, 229, $91741.
40. (17) Trevor Bayne(i), Ford, Engine, 223, $57750.
41. (35) Josh Wise(i), Ford, Rear Gear, 119, $53750.
42. (43) Tony Raines(i), Chevrolet, Vibration, 104, $49750.
43. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, Brakes, 63, $46250.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 130.693 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 03 Mins, 52 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.799 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 37 laps.
Lead Changes: 22 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: M. Kenseth 1-11; D. Hamlin 12-13; M. Kenseth 14; K. Harvick 15; M. Kenseth 16-25; D. Ragan 26; K. Harvick 27; Kurt Busch 28-31; M. Kenseth 32-91; K. Larson(i) 92; M. Kenseth 93-139; D. Earnhardt Jr. 140; M. Kenseth 141-142; D. Earnhardt Jr. 143-153; M. Kenseth 154-166; D. Hamlin 167-207; K. Harvick 208-213; B. Keselowski 214-222; D. Hamlin 223; D. Earnhardt Jr. 224-235; D. Hamlin 236-239; D. Earnhardt Jr. 240-243; D. Hamlin 244-267.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): M. Kenseth 7 times for 144 laps; D. Hamlin 5 times for 72 laps; D. Earnhardt Jr. 4 times for 28 laps; B. Keselowski 1 time for 9 laps; K. Harvick 3 times for 8 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 4 laps; D. Ragan 1 time for 1 lap; K. Larson(i) 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 13 in Points: J. Johnson – 2,419; M. Kenseth – 2,400; K. Harvick – 2,385; Kyle Busch – 2,364; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 2,363; J. Gordon – 2,337; C. Bowyer – 2,336; J. Logano – 2,323; G. Biffle – 2,321; Kurt Busch – 2,309; R. Newman – 2,286; K. Kahne – 2,283; C. Edwards – 2,282.
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