When the smoke cleared at Homestead, Jimmie Johnson emerged as the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion for the third year in a row. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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The restart came on Lap 204, with Kenseth immediately applying the pressure to Johnson and Edwards a close third, which he quickly lost to Hamlin. Kenseth took the lead on Lap 206, just before Kurt Busch hit the wall again to bring out yet another caution period. Most of the leaders stayed out, with Harvick and Gordon pitting from seventh and eighth place, respectively.
Kenseth held the lead over Johnson, Hamlin, Edwards and Stewart when the green flag came out on Lap 212. Four laps later, Hamlin took over second from Johnson. On Lap 227, Johnson let Edwards by into third and a lap later Stewart passed him for fourth. But by this time, Johnson’s championship was virtually secured, as he needed only to finish 37th to clinch it — and that was if Edwards won.
But by Lap 232, both Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas passed Edwards, Stewart taking second on Lap 233 and Hamlin third. Although Edwards was able to get back around Hamlin for third, his Ford was nowhere near as good as it was when the sun was out and he had clean air on his nose.
Stewart was running down Kenseth and took the lead on Lap 244, going high on the backstretch to secure the point.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. pitted on Lap 245, taking four tires because Earnhardt thought he had a flat tire. Reutimann pitted one lap later. Earnhardt came back down pit road on Lap 249, the hood going up on his Chevrolet, as his crew detected a broken front brake caliper caused by a wheel bearing failure.
Biffle was the next to pit on Lap 250, taking two tires. Juan Pablo Montoya came on Lap 262, again taking just two tires and a splash of fuel.
Johnson pitted on Lap 253, taking gas and two tires as his crew made a flawless stop to send him on his way to a championship. Hamlin came in on Lap 254, followed
by Stewart on Lap 255. He took just 3 seconds of fuel and was back into the race.
That left the Roush Fenway Fords of Kenseth, Edwards and Ragan in the top three sports, followed by Bowyer and Kyle Busch. The Roush drivers were gambling on fuel, but Kenseth ran out on Lap 264, giving the lead to Edwards.
With two laps to go, Kyle Busch took second from Ragan but both of them ran out of gas, and at the finish it was Edwards, Harvick, McMurray and Jeff Gordon.
FORD 400 RESULTS
Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to
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