NASCAR

• Johnson, Hendrick looking to make NASCAR history at Homestead

  
  

  Homestead, FL (Sports Network) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, November 22. Race: Ford 400. Site: Homestead-Miami Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start time: 3:15 p.m. (et). Laps: 267. Miles: 400. Defending winner: Carl Edwards. Television: ABC. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN) /SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

  One thing is for sure in Sunday's Sprint Cup season-finale at Homestead. Hendrick Motorsports will capture its ninth championship in NASCAR's top-tier series.

  Which driver -- Jimmie Johnson or Mark Martin -- has yet to be decided.

  Johnson rebounded from his Texas setback by winning last weekend's race at Phoenix.

  He now leads second-place Martin by 108 points. Johnson will lock up his unprecedented fourth consecutive title with a 25th-place finish or better at Homestead. Jeff Gordon, currently third in points (-169), officially will be eliminated from championship contention when Johnson starts the 400-mile race in South Florida.

  Despite a comfortable points margin right now, Johnson clinching the title at Homestead is not a sure thing. He survived the "wild-card" race at Talladega with a sixth-place run, but after his 38th-place finish at Texas due to an early-race crash, Martin trimmed 111 points from his teammate's lead.

  "After Talladega, there was a big relief we made it through and had a good finish," Johnson said. "I'd be lying if I didn't feel some things, relief, wonder if, maybe this is really going to happen.

  We went to Texas, had the carpet jerked out from underneath our feet and finished 38th. Maybe there was a good lesson in that.

  "I'm not one to let my mind wander and think about the possibilities. I've always known I've got to go out and race the race and get it done. Maybe it was a good lesson to myself and the team that this thing isn't over. With that in mind, I'm not thinking about a party, what I'm saying or what I'm doing." Johnson has finished worse than 25th in 47 of his 290-race Cup career.

  Martin has gained more than 108 points on Johnson nine times, including once at Homestead (2005).

  If Martin ends the year second in points, it would be the fifth time that has occurred in his career.

  He was the points runner-up in 1990, '94, '98 and 2002. Richard Petty holds the record for the most second-place finishes in Cup points with six.

  "I'm pretty proud of what we've done this season, the 50-year-old Martin said. "That's really all I've got to say about it.

  I'm proud of what we've accomplished." Martin , in his first full-season with Hendrick, has five victories and a series-high seven poles so far this year.

  Rick Hendrick's guaranteed ninth owner championship will place him in a tie with Petty Enterprises for most all-time in the series. Hendrick also will surpass Richard Childress for most owner titles combined in NASCAR's three national touring series with 12.

  "It's an awesome feeling," Hendrick said. "I really have a hard time explaining how proud I am of the organization...just unbelievable. We thought we would be good this year, knowing that one of our cars is going to win it." Jack Sprague gave Hendrick three championships in the Truck Series (1997, '99 and 2001). Brian Vickers won the 2003 Nationwide driver's title in a Hendrick car, but Childress claimed the owner championship that year.

  While Johnson and Martin battle for the title, several drivers who won a Cup race in 2008 have one last chance to score their first victory this year. Perhaps the biggest surprise this season has been Carl Edwards in the winless column. Edwards won a series-high nine races last year, including Homestead.

  "It's our last chance to get a win in 2009," Edwards said. "I have real high hopes going in [Homestead]. We're just going to go until the last lap and give it a hundred percent with guns blazing. We're going for the win. Hopefully we'll get a shot at it." Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr. also won at least one Cup race last year, but have yet to win this season.

  Biffle recorded three consecutive victories at Homestead from 2004-06.

  Forty-eight teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Ford 400.

  11/17 19:22:54 ET