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You would think that the best way to win the Championship is to win the last race of the year on your way to the title. However this feat is surprisingly rare. Only six times in NASCAR's history has the Champion won the final race of the season. Even more interesting to note is that, of those six, only once was the win actually important.
Here is the entire list of Champions who ended their season with a bang.
This weekend Jimmie Johnson heads to Homestead needing to finish 25th or better to clinch the 2009 Sprint Cup title regardless of what Mark Martin does. While it's not officially over, the 3.38% chance of Mark pulling off the miracle doesn't prevent me from Congratulating Jimmie Johnson early on another amazing Chase.
NASCAR fans have a long history of hating winners. On the eve of Jimmie Johnson's fourth consecutive Championship he certainly has his share of anti-fans who would love nothing more than to see him fail.
No matter how you feel about Johnson and the Hendrick Motorsports team you have to admire what they have accomplished. They have dominated an incredibly competitive sport that was made even more competitive by the introduction of the Chase format. Four in a row is truly an amazing accomplishment.
In order for Mark Martin to claim the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup title in Homestead he has to make up 108 points in one single race. How likely is that to happen? Someone at NASCAR dug through the stats and figured it out.
Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson have been in the same Sprint Cup race 266 times. In those 266 races Mark Martin has gained more than 108 points on Jimmie Johnson exactly nine times. This means that 3.38% of the time Mark Martin will win the Championship next weekend in Homestead.
Here are the nine races. One of them was even at Homestead.
Jimmie Johnson's dominant Phoenix performance was not what Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon were hoping to see. Last week Johnson granted them a glimmer of hope in Texas. This week he again rained on their Chase dreams in Phoenix. Johnson was clearly the best throughout the race and earned a convincing victory to extend his point lead.
Johnson just needs to finish 25th or better next week in Homestead to clinch his record-setting fourth consecutive Championship.
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