Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon will battle in the conclusion of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup at Homestead, Florida on Sunday. Johnson holds an 86-point lead over Gordon after winning the last four races. The two Hendrick Motorsports teammates are the only drivers of the 12 Chase for the Cup drivers eligible to win the title. Johnson needs an 18th-place finish or higher, regardless of where Gordon finishes, to clinch the title. If he leads a lap, he needs a 19th-place finish and if he leads the most laps, he can finish 21st. On the other end of the spectrum, if Gordon finishes 15th or worse, Johnson clinches.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook SBGglobal.com has Jeff Gordon the odds on favorite to win the Ford 400 at Homestead with +450 odds closely followed by Jimmie Johnson at +550.
On May 6, Johnson won the Crown Royal Presents The Jim Stewart 400 at Richmond International Raceway. During the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, Johnson blew a tire and crashed hard into the outer wall. As the car erupted in flames, although suffering slight eyebrow burns, Johnson climbed out and was not injured.
On September 2, he clinched a position in The Chase for the NEXTEL Cup with his win at Fontana in the 2007 Sharp AQUOS 500Sharp AQUOS 500; Johnson entered The Chase as the leader, with 5060 points, based on his six regular season wins. The next week, he won the 2007 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Chevy Rock & Roll 400.
On October 21, Johnson won the 2007 Subway 500|Subway 500 at Martinsville. On October 28, Johnson won the 2007 Pep Boys Auto 500 Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his second race in a row, moving him to within nine points of teammate Jeff Gordon in the race for the 2007 Nextel Cup Championship. He followed that victory with another at the Texas Motor Speedway on November 4, then once again on November 11, he won his fourth straight race at Phoenix. With the 4 wins in a row for the first time since 1998 when Jeff Gordon won four straight.
1 J. Gordon +450
2. J. Johnson +550
3. T. Stewart +900
4. Kurt Busch +900
5. Kyle Busch +1000
6. G. Biffle + 800
7. M. Truex Jr +900
8. M. Kenseth +11
9. C. Edwards +1250
10. D. Earnhardt Jr +1750
11. D. Hamlin +1750
12. C. Bowyer +1750
13. K. Harvick +2500
14 R. Newman +2000
15. J. Burton +2000
16. K. Kahne +2500
17. C Mears +3500
18. M. Martin +3500
19. J. McMurray +5000
20. JP Montoya +5500
21. Field (all others) +2000
