Jimmie Johnson is the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion following a ninth place finish in the season-ending Ford 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida, a race won for the third straight year by Greg Biffle.
Biffle's victory in the extended 268-lap race around Homestead's variable banked 1.5-mile oval may have been a remarkable achievement, even more so considering that he has used the exact same #16 Roush Racing Ford on each occasion but it was something of a sideshow to the main championship battle between Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The championship ball remained in Johnson's court for virtually the entire event, although an early race near miss that sent the driver of the #48 Hendrick Motorsport Chevrolet to the pits with a hole in the front grill briefly dropped him back to 40th position and handed Kenseth the championship lead.
However much like he did at the start of last week's race at Phoenix Johnson was able to move his way through the field with ease, even though there was plenty of hair-raising two and three wide racing throughout the field, and establish himself on the fringes of the top ten.
Not even a slow pitstop under the fourth of eleven caution periods on lap 115 that dropped Johnson back to 16th could prevent his relentless march towards the title and with Kenseth unable to break into the top three Johnson was able to settle himself into a title winning position for the final 100 laps and steer clear of the problems around him.
There were plenty of incidents and accidents to keep each of the five title contenders on their toes with Robby Gordon's turn four spin on lap 188 as he was alongside Johnson especially worrying for the champion-elect. However Earnhardt Jr's minor brush with the turn one wall with 90 laps remaining would be the closest any of them would come to actual disaster.
With Johnson showing typically stout form at or near the head of the field all his rivals could hope for was some late mechanical misfortune. It never happened and as Johnson's crew clicked off a faultless final two tyre stop with the rest of the leaders on lap 250 there appeared little that Kenseth, or the other contenders, could do.
Two late race caution periods kept the field tightly bunched and with Johnson surrounded by traffic the tension levels were still high and when Casey Mears' engine failure sent the race into overtime, Johnson's and his entire crews torture continued.
But when the final green flag waved Johnson sensibly allowed several of his closest pursuers to pass to cross the line in ninth spot, three places behind Kenseth and the new Nextel Cup Champion by an unofficial margin of 56 points.
