It will take some time for the gravity of what Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team accomplished at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday to truly sink in for the men who made it happen.
But Johnson knows it’s big.
Johnson, 34, won an unprecedented fourth consecutive championship. He joined Jeff Gordon, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt as the only drivers to win at least four and broke a tie with Cale Yarborough, who won three straight.
“It is going to take a little while for those things to jump-start in my mind and get going again. Just so proud of the effort,” Johnson said. “Really think of how much I love this sport, how much I respect this sport. The greats before, how they have carried this sport on their backs and made it what it is and then to do something none of them have done — it is unbelievable.”
When Johnson stepped out of his No. 48 Chevrolet, after engulfing the front stretch in a cloud of white smoke from his celebratory burnout, he looked at the cheering crowd filled with pride. He kissed his wife, Chandra.
“I really never thought in my lifetime I’d see four in a row,” Gordon said. “Who’s to say they won’t win five?”
The championship gave Hendrick Motorsports nine titles — all in the last 15 years — and a 1-2-3 finish. Mark Martin finished the race 12th, 141 points behind Johnson. Gordon finished sixth, third in points. Denny Hamlin won Sunday’s race.
Johnson had a bigger lead before Texas two weeks ago — 184 points — but crashed on the third lap. Since then the pressure weighed heavily on Johnson and kept him from enjoying his run.
He led by 73 points heading into Phoenix, in the season’s second-to-last race and, in true Johnson fashion, won the race.
“When I look in Chad’s eyes and my guy’s eyes, what we did in those four championships and the way we raced, I’m most proud of that,” Johnson said.
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tganguli@tribune.com
