Ten years after winning his first Sprint Cup title, Jimmie Johnson claimed a record-tying seventh crown on Sunday with a victory in the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The 41-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver has matched NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty with seven championships in NASCAR’s top division. Sunday’s win didn’t come easy for Johnson, who started the race from the rear of the field after forfeiting his Number-14 starting position as the result of an unapproved modification to his Number-48 Chevrolet that was discovered in pre-race inspection.
Johnson stormed past race leader Kyle Larson on the final restart and pulled away from the field over the last three laps to notch his fifth victory of the season – three of which came during the Chase. He beat Larson to the checkered flag by a half-second. Kevin Harvick grabbed third place. Joey Logano, one of the four remaining drivers in title contention entering the weekend, finished fourth with Jamie McMurray completing the top five …
Top-seeded Kyle Busch finished sixth in his bid for back-to-back Sprint Cup championships. Carl Edwards, the other driver in The Championship Four, placed thirty-fourth after crashing late.