Jimmie Johnson with rookie Scott Speed will start the last 400 miles of NASCAR 2009. What will the race bring to us? Read on and you will read what did happen. It comes down to the showdown of two drivers, Mark Martin and Jimmy Johnson.

Will Jimmie suffer and fail, leaving Martin as the first 50 year old Champion? Or will Johnson leave the field in his dust to pull up next to the Championship presentation stage with the Sprint Cup in his sights? We will see soon.

Out of Turn four the 43 warriors in the clean machines gleaming in the afternoon Homestead-Miami sun down the front stretch to the…

GREEN FLAG as the drivers race through turn one. Johnson takes the first 5 points of the race leaving the field in his dust. With the five points 27^th or better win lock up the season for him.

Speed falls back to 4^th as Marcos Ambrose moves into 2^nd with Martin in tow. Lap 4 Johnson leads the field by over a half second. Lap 5 two early movers on the track see Clint Bowyer move up 5 positions from his start of 10^th climb up to 5^th. Lap 7 Kevin Harvick started 6^th and is up to 3^rd.

Lap 8 trouble starts for Dale Earnhardt Jr., which has slammed him all year long as he picks up some trash on the front end of the car as the water temperature climbs up on his car.

Lap 10 Ambrose challenges Johnson for the lead as they head into turn one. As they the two race into turn three Ambrose takes the lead. As Ambrose crosses the start finish line Ambrose hops on the radio with a ya-hoo-hoo.

Lap 14 Ambrose is big time sideways in turn four as he save the car. It looks like he has a flat tire as he heads to pit road. Johnson is the leader followed by Harvick and Tony Stewart.

Lap 18 other movement on the track has seen Jeff Gordon up to 9^th from his 20^th place start as well as David Reutimann running 12^th from his 22^nd place start. Lap 21 Stewart closes in on Harvick for 2^nd place as they try to find the line that the car is handling the best. Lap 22 Stewart is given room by Harvick to make the pass.

Lap 23 the top four drivers have a substantial lead on the field. Johnson leads by 1 second over Stewart, another half second to Harvick. Martin is 4 seconds behind Johnson and another second back to 5^th place Bowyer.

Lap 25 your top ten drivers are Johnson, Stewart, Harvick, Martin, Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Gordon. Lap 28 movers on the track are Earnhardt Jr. who has lost the trash on the front end of his car up to 11^th from his start of 32^nd. Juan Pablo Montoya started 23^rd is up to 15^th.

Lap 30 Ambrose is back on pit road with some type of electrical issue. The team works on replacing the batteries. Lap 33 lead change as Stewart takes the lead for the first time today. Ambrose heads to the garage.

Jeff Burton slowly moves up in the field from his start of 26^th up to 15^th. Kyle Busch runs 19^th from his start of 30^th. Lap 36 Earnhardt Jr. has moved up into the top 10.

Lap 37 some drivers that have fallen off pace are Greg Biffle from his start of 8^th back to 14^th, Speed from 2^nd back to 26^th, Regan Smith from 16^th back to 36^th, and Travis Kvapil from 28^th to 40^th.

Lap 41 drivers a lap down are Kvapil and Terry Labonte. In the garage are Michael McDowell and Ambrose. Lap 43 Ambrose is back in the race, 14 laps down.

Lap 44 drivers that are off pace and nearing the danger zone of falling a lap down are Elliott Sadler, Bobby Labonte, John Andretti, Smith and Michael Waltrip. Lap 48 Stewart leads Johnson by 1.5 seconds and 3^rd place Harvick by 2 seconds.

Lap 50 pit stops begin as Martin and Matt Kenseth with Earnhardt Jr. are in for stops. Lap 51 Johnson and Harvick are in with Truex Jr. and several others. Lap 52 most of the field is in for stops. Kurt Busch leads a lap. Lap 54 Stewart is in for his stop. Newman almost clips the front end of Jeff Gordon’s car as they leave their pit boxes.

Lap 58 pit stops are completed. Harvick is the leader with Stewart nipping at his heels. Lap 60 Stewart in the middle three wide between Harvick and Waltrip who is a lap down. This buys Harvick a few minutes of breathing room. As the three were dealing with each other, Bowyer and Martin close in with Johnson in tow.

Lap 62 the top twenty drivers are Harvick, Stewart, Bowyer, Martin, Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt Jr., Truex Jr., Newman, Kurt Busch, Reutimann, Burton, Montoya, McMurray, A.J. Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Sam Hornish Jr. and Casey Mears.

Lap 64 Stewart takes the lead back from Harvick. Lap 67 after stops 29 drivers remain on the lead lap. Lap down drivers now include Paul Menard, David Gilliland, Erik Darnell, Robby Gordon along with the drivers mentioned before.

Lap 72 Stewart pulls away from the field by 2.1 seconds. Stewart is 4.1 seconds in front of Bowyer, 6.5 seconds in front of 4^th place Johnson, 7.1 seconds in front of 5^th place Martin. Lap 74 Matt Kenseth and Speed are a lap down. With Ragan and Brian Vickers in Stewart’s sights.

Lap 75 your top ten drivers are Stewart, Harvick, Bowyer, Johnson, Martin, Jeff Gordon, Truex Jr., Burton, Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch.

Lap 80 Stewart continues his gap from the field as he is now 3 seconds in front of Harvick and 7 seconds back to Bowyer.

YELLOW FLAG lap 81 as Ambrose spins out in turn four. Speed is the lucky dog. IT was a lazy solo spin from the top of turn four to the entrance of pit road. The leaders head to pit road. The race back to the track is Stewart, Harvick, Bowyer, Martin and Johnson.

GREEN FLAG lap 86 as Stewart and Harvick lead our drivers back to racing. Out of turn two Harvick takes the lead, followed by Bowyer. Lap 87 Johnson takes the low side passing Kurt Busch to take 3^rd place. Lap 89 Johnson works on Bowyer for 2^nd place as Stewart drops to 7^th.

Lap 90 we hear that Jeff Gordon may have a tire going flat. Lap 91 Montoya battles with Johnson for 3^rd place. They fight back and forth for a lap, where Johnson drops back. Montoya has the power as he moves forward to take second, Burton moves into 3^rd, Bowyer 4^th.

Lap 94 Johnson is very upset with another driver as he tells the team to give some respect. Lap 95 in turn three between Johnson in the middle of Stewart and Hamlin. Lap 97 Montoya passes Burton for second. Lap 98 Montoya and Burton slowly catch up to Harvick. Lap 98 Johnson on the inside of Bowyer to take 7^th. Lap 99 Earnhardt Jr. is running next to the wall in the turns to the point as he clips it several times over these first 100 laps of the race.

Lap 100 (167 to go) your top 20 drivers are – Harvick, Montoya, Burton, Stewart, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Johnson, Bowyer, Martin, Truex Jr., Reutimann, Newman, Kyle Busch, Allmendinger, Jeff Gordon, Mears, Hornish Jr., McMurray, Biffle and Kasey Kahne.

YELLOW FLAG lap 100 as Andretti’s car blows a right front tire, sending tire pieces and metal onto the track. Kenseth should be the lucky dog. The race back to the track is Harvick, Burton, Stewart, Kurt Busch and Hamlin. We hear that Johnson is upset with Bowyer as he thought they would be working together during the race, Johnson was seeing that Bowyer was racing too close to Johnson in the corners.

GREEN FLAG lap 106 with Harvick having a great start in front of Stewart. Montoya messes with Johnson in the corner on his inside. Bowyer looks to be having handling issues in the turns as he runs next to Montoya for a lap. Lap 109 Bowyer falls back in positions.

YELLOW FLAG lap 109 as Ambrose slaps the wall in turn three. Sorenson is the lucky dog. Sadler, Darnell, Bill Elliott, Robby Gordon, Gilliland, Menard, Waltrip, Smith and Bobby Labonte were wave around drivers, where this caution benefited them to get back on the lead lap and pit this time to be on the same pit cycle.

Earnhardt Jr.’s team is working hard on changing the setup for his car. The time spent on pit road is going to put his car way back in the field back to 37^th.

GREEN FLAG lap 113 as Harvick and Burton lead the field racing into turn one. Burton spins his tires big time where Stewart almost nails him from behind. This allows Hamlin and Kurt Busch to take second and third place. Lap 115 Burton recovers a bit back up to 3^rd place. Johnson moves up to 5^th.

Lap 116 Montoya and Stewart get together on the back stretch.

YELLOW FLAG lap 116 after the contact where Montoya may have blown a tire where he slams into the outside turn three wall. We see that a lap earlier that Stewart was coming out of turn four in front of Montoya. Montoya slams the back of Stewart as they crossed the start finish line. On the back side of the track, Stewart was on the outside of Montoya, came down on Montoya, slapped the side of Montoya’s car and forced him down a bit as metal flew off of the car.

As the drivers headed to pit road a big check up on the entrance to pit road where Reed Sorenson, Sadler and Waltrip all slam into each other. All three have significant damage behind Darnell who mis-judged his pit box where it caused the big check up by Robby Gordon who got into the back of him, followed by Menard who slammed into Gordon, followed by the three we mentioned.

Some of the leaders pitted, but not all of the leaders. Johnson and Martin will restart 23^rd and 25^th.

GREEN FLAG lap 124 as Harvick leads us back to racing followed by Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch. Back in the pack on lap 125 Martin and Johnson are side by side in the corner of turns one and two. Johnson has the position on the next lap.

Lap 127 your top ten drivers are Harvick, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Burton, Newman, Jeff Gordon, Kahne, Hornish Jr. and Mears. Lap 128 three wide battle between Newman, Jeff Gordon and Kahne. Lap 130 Jeff Gordon on the inside of Newman for 7^th.

Lap 134 (Halfway) Kurt Busch challenges Hamlin for 2^nd place and takes it. So far we have seen 8 lead changes among 6 leaders as well as 4 cautions for 18 laps. 35 drivers are on the lead lap.

Lap 136 Kurt Busch took the lead a few laps ago where it looks like he is handling much better as the sun is down and we head into darkness. Lap 138 Earnhardt Jr.’s challenges continue as he blows a tire on his car. He will fall a lap down as he heads to pit road. Earnhardt Jr. is the only driver a lap down. The rest are several laps down.

Lap 142 where are some of the top starters of the race? Johnson is 16^th from his start of the pole, Stewart is 17^th from his 5^th place start, Martin is 23^rd from his 4^th place start, Elliott is 26^th from his start of 9^th and Ambrose is 36^th from his start of 3^rd.

Lap 146 drivers on the move from the start of the race are Menard 36^th to 28^th, Ragan from 41^st to 24^th, Keselowski from 27^th to 21^st, Vickers 33^rd to 18^th, Joey Logano 35^th to 13^th, Hornish Jr. 29^th to 8^th, Jeff Gordon 20^th to 7^th, Kyle Busch 30^th to 6^th, Kahne 15^th to 5^th and Burton 26^th to 4^th.

Lap 150 your top twenty drivers are Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Harvick, Burton, Kahne, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Hornish Jr., Mears, Newman, Carl Edwards, Stewart, Logano, Biffle, Johnson, Reutimann, Bowyer, Truex Jr., Martin and Vickers.

Lap 152 NASCAR warns the teams of Stewart and Montoya to not fight with each other as they race on the track. Montoya was looking for revenge on Stewart.

YELLOW FLAG lap 156 as Stewart spins out on the front stretch after Montoya tagged the rear end of Stewart as they came out of turn four. This looks like Montoya will be going a lap or two down for a penalty.

The race back to the track is Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Burton, Kahne and Jeff Gordon. Andretti is the lucky dog. NASCAR warns Montoya and the team that if any more of the action between the teams happens, he will be parked for the rest of the year.

Johnson has a good stop where the team gets him back out 11^th. Logano is black flagged for some reason to head to pit road.

GREEN FLAG lap 162 as Hamlin and Kurt Busch battle for the lead. Behind them it is a diamond formation between Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kahne and Bowyer for 5^th place. Lap 164 Kahne bounces off of the wall on the outside of Edwards coming out of turn two. They continue on. Kahne passes Bowyer and works the outside line of Johnson for 7^th place.

Lap 166 Burton runs the inside line inside of Kurt Busch as they fight for 2^nd place. Lap 167 (100 to go) Kurt Busch holds onto second place for the moment. Johnson takes 7^th from Kahne.

Lap 172 Kurt Busch is on the rear bumper of Hamlin for the lead. Lap 173 three wide battle between Jeff Gordon, Harvick and Johnson as they fight for 5^th. Lap 174 Johnson on the inside of Jeff Gordon for 6^th.

Lap 175 your top ten drivers are Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Burton, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kahne, Edwards and Bowyer. Lap 177 Hamlin runs the low line trying to find a better grip in the turns as Kurt Busch places the pressure on him for the lead.

Lap 178 Johnson is back to 5^th after passing Harvick. Jeff Gordon slips back to 9^th. Lap 181 Kurt Busch takes the lead from Hamlin. Lap 186 Burton passes Hamlin for 2^nd place. Lap 187 we see Martin challenging Hornish Jr. for 13^th as he takes the position. We also see Keselowski take 20^th from Vickers.

Lap 188 Logano closes in on Vickers as well to take 21^st. Lap 193 Earnhardt Jr. heads to pit road.

YELLOW FLAG lap 193 as Robby Gordon spins out in turn two. Looks like Earnhardt will be two laps down and not the lucky dog, but will benefit from the wave around to get one of those laps back. Andretti is the lucky dog. The leaders head to pit road. Hamlin, Burton, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Bowyer are the first five back to the track.

GREEN FLAG lap 199 as Burton and Hamlin enter turn one together, Burton will hold the position while Hamlin falls behind the Busch brothers. Lap 200 (67 to go) as it looks like Talladega with three wide racing in the turns. So far we have seen 13 lead changes among 8 leaders with 6 cautions for 27 laps.

Lap 202 Johnson is three wide with Jeff Gordon and Harvick on his outside. Johnson moves up to 7^th as he battles for 6^th with Truex Jr. The top twenty drivers are Burton, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Bowyer, Johnson, Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon, Harvick, Kahne, Allmendinger, Kenseth, McMurray, Edwards, Martin, Mears, Biffle, Vickers, Logano and Hornish Jr.

Lap 206 (61 to go) Kyle challenged his brother Kurt for 2^nd place. Kyle does not make it happen though. 59 to go Burton leads the field by 2.5 seconds. 5^th place Bowyer runs 6.2 seconds back and 10^th place Kahne is 8.8 seconds back.

55 to go as we see a few battles on the track between Truex Jr. and Harvick for 7^th as Harvick takes it, Allmendinger and Edwards for 11^th as Allmendinger holds on, Martin and Mears for 15^th, Martin holds on, Logano and Vickers for 17^th, Logano holds on, Keselowski and Gilliland for 22^nd. Keselowski holds on as Speed passes Gilliland.

YELLOW FLAG for debris and 51 to go. Stewart is the lucky dog. The leaders head to pit road. Kurt Busch is out first followed by Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Burton and Harvick. Kurt Busch took two tires, which might not be a great idea with everyone else taking four tires.

GREEN FLAG and 46 to go with Kyle Busch and Hamlin passing Kurt Busch. Hamlin on the inside of Kyle Busch as they race side by side for the lead. 45 to go Hamlin takes the lead. Kenseth taps Hornish Jr. from behind in turn three. Some three and four wide racing in the back of the field.

43 to go as Burton is sideways out of turn two and a big save to continue on. 42 to go Kahne battles with Edwards for 12^th. At the same time Harvick challenges Kurt Busch for 5^th place.

40 to go the challenge between Kahne and Edwards continues with Kahne on the inside line. We now see Jeff Gordon challenging Johnson for 7^th. 39 to go as Jeff Gordon takes 7^th. Gordon needs a few more positions to take 3^rd place overall back from Kurt Busch.

35 to go Jeff Gordon’s team tells him he needs to finish 6^th in this race to finish 3^rd overall. We almost see McMurray, Edwards and Martin get together on the track.

30 to go Jeff Gordon passes Bowyer for 6^th, Johnson tries to pass Bowyer, but it does not work. Hamlin leads Kyle Busch by 1.1 seconds, Burton by 2.8 seconds, Kurt Busch by 4.1 seconds, 5^th place Harvick by 4.9 seconds, 6^th place Jeff Gordon by 6.6 seconds, 7^th place Johnson by 7.3 seconds, 8^th place Bowyer by 8.5 seconds, 9^th place Allmendinger by 8.8 seconds and 10^th place Edwards by 9.5 seconds.

25 to go Hamlin looks like he has found the right spot on the track in front of Kyle Busch. 23 to go as Truex Jr. and Martin battle for 11^th. 22 to go between Allmendinger and Bowyer for 8^th as Allmendinger takes it. 21 to go we see Johnson challenging Jeff Gordon for 6^th.

20 to go Bowyer on the outside of Edwards for 9^th. Hamlin leads by 2.1 seconds. 19 to go as Johnson passes Jeff Gordon for 6^th. 17 to go Reutimann and Biffle for 14^th. Biffle holds onto it.

15 to go Burton runs on the inside of Kyle Busch for 2^nd place. Burton takes the position. 14 to go Kurt Busch starts to work on Kyle for 3^rd.

13 to go Harvick closes in on both Busch brothers. Kurt Busch passes Kyle for 3^rd. 12 to go as Harvick passes Kyle for 4^th.

10 to go as Hamlin runs 3 seconds in front of the field. Kurt Busch challenges Burton for 2^nd place.

9 to go Johnson is 6^th place and looks to win the Championship.

8 to go as this could be a 1,2,3 top points finish for Hendrick Motorsports, the first time that this has ever happened.

7 to go as Johnson takes 5^th from Kyle Busch.

6 to go as Kurt Busch contends with Harvick for 3^rd.

5 to go Hamlin leads by 2.5 seconds followed by Burton, Kurt Busch, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Edwards, Allmendinger and Truex Jr.

3 to go just a note that this is the last time since 1973 that we will not see a Waltrip full time in the Cup Series. Harvick on the low side of Kurt Busch for 3^rd.

2 to go Hamlin is on cruise control.

WHITE FLAG for Hamlin and Johnson making history with being a 4 time in a row Champion, a record that has never been set until now in the 61 year history of NASCAR for this feat.

CHECKERED FLAG for Hamlin and another Championship for Johnson.

The top ten of the race are Hamlin, Burton, Harvick, Kurt Busch, Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Edwards, Kyle Busch, Truex Jr. and Allmendinger.

The Chase ended up with Johnson with 6652, Martin 6511, Jeff Gordon 6473, Kurt Busch 6446, Hamlin 6335, Stewart 6309, Biffle 6292, Montoya 6252, Newman 6175, Kahne 6128, Edwards 6118 and Vickers 5929.

This wraps up the season. The race lasted for a bit more than 3 hours. We saw 18 lead changes among 10 leaders. 7 cautions hit the track for 31 laps. 29 drivers finished on the lead lap.

See you next season! Thanks for being there from the staff at SM.