Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Jimmie Johnson is ‘the best driver in this era’

The win means Johnson ties Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt as the only drivers to capture seven NASCAR titles. Fast facts: Four drivers are left in the championship hunt: Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Busch, the defending champion.

It was a year of sevens for Johnson, who took over sole possession of seventh place on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series all-time wins list after his win at Auto Club Speedway earlier this season.

“Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and I – we really enjoy working with each other”, Busch said.

“I don’t blame him”, Logano said. All the leaders pitted, and a slow 12.5-second pit stop dropped Edwards three spots to fifth with 56 laps to go.

Edwards ran the fastest of the Final Four during Saturday final practice, clocking a top lap of 174.031 miles per hour, the second-fastest time of the session.

Johnson needed just 47 laps to work his way into the top five.

Larson led at the midpoint (134 laps) of the scheduled 267-lap event. The last one. The one that won Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.

Johnson was practically gifted his seventh title when Carl Edwards’ aggressive attempt to win the championship ended in a wreck.

We NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Homestead.

It is the nature of racing that Lupton, a part-time driver making only his fourth career start, changed the outcome of the championship race.

While Edwards was out of the race, classified 34th, Logano and Busch were still in the thick of the championship battle – and Logano indirectly influenced Busch’s race. He had to start last because of the inspection issue and was the worst of the final four, and had no shot until Edwards coughed away the title.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better practice than that”, Edwards said. (Crew chief) Chad Knaus called a great strategy and made some great adjustments for this short run.

For his part, Logano received minimal damage, while the other Championship 4 drivers, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson, remained inside the top 5.

Before the race, the three-time champion pulled off of pit road, getting congratulations from each team at each pit stall he passed.

“I understand why he had to throw the block, and he understands why I had to make the move, because that was for the win”, Logano said.

“If anybody deserves it, it’s him”, said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was with Johnson in Victory Lane, as were Gordon, Stewart and seemingly all of mankind. We weren’t the best this weekend. Busch restarted sixth on Lap 258 and was fortunate enough to miss the nine-car wreck that ignited after Edwards blocked Logano.

Jimmie Johnson will have to start a potential record-tying race at the back of the field.

Tony Stewart has few distractions around him before his final NASCAR race. I am careful as to what I download or play on my devices and I take my time and do research for every game.

That brought out a 31 minute, 9 second red flag period and another restart.