A brilliant racecar driver, great guy, future NASCAR Hall of Famer. Some of the few ways to describe Jimmie Johnson. Another way to describe him is a legend because he is the only driver to date to win 5 straight cup championships from 2006-2010. But 2011 would not be so kind to the 48 team with a 6th place points finish. 2012 Johnson and company would want to reassert their championship winning ways but it would get off to a bad start after 1 lap he would wreck out of the Daytona 500. And to make matters even worse is that that they would be deducted 25 points for an illegal C post on the car, crew chief Chad Knaus was fined $100,000 suspended for 6 races, and car chief Ron Malec was suspended for 6 races. But Hendrick Motorsports will appeal the penalty so these suspensions and fines aren't set in stone yet. So already in 2012 they will have to work extra hard to get his season on track. And with a 4th place qualifying effort at Phoenix where he's won 4 times a good finish looked in the cards. The start of the race he was fast. Despite a slow start and falling to 6th he got the lead at lap 11 from reigning champion Tony Stewart before Clint Bowyer brought the caution out for cutting a right front tire. So with alternate strategies the 48 restarted in 14th. By lap 40 he's in 4th. 2 laps later he gets past Hamlin for 3rd and with the track being paved and reconfigured in November the previous year it wasn't super easy to pass so with fresh left side tires and a great handling car, and great talent he is in 2nd now after getting past Regan Smith and is catching Kevin Harvick for the lead. He'd get it after caution pitstops and having to race against Kurt Busch. Then caution pitstops happen once again after Casey Mears lost his brakes and demolished the back of his car. Jimmie chooses 4 tires while Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Brad Keselowski choose 2 tires. It was only a matter of time before Johnson restored order right based from earlier? Well he got 3rd from Brad Keselowski but then at lap 133 a caution came out for Jamie McMurray, AJ Allmendinger. Afterwards Jimmie Johnson has to restart in 25th place due a loose right rear wheel. But slowly and steady the 5 time champion drove his car up to a 4th place finish. So this race showed that regardless of any potential penalties that could hit the 48 in the future they have the hardest things to find, speed. They led laps, had winning pace, and got a top 5 finish. He'd have to overcome more at Las Vegas after having to start at the rear of the field in a backup car after wrecking his primary in practice. But by lap 22 he'd crack the top 25 still believing they can win the race. 16 laps later Johnson was in the top 20, and then after a brilliant 1st caution flag stop he'd crack the top 15. And slowly once again Jimmie makes his way into the top 10 until another good pitstop under caution pushes the 48 into the top 5 and at lap 99 he finishes his march to the lead. But it would not hold out when Johnson after leading 35 laps over green flag pitstops slowly went back to 3rd and then after a yellow for debris set up pit strategy to push Johnson as low as 9th. But still with the end of the race approaching he was able to put himself in contention for the win. But after 2 restarts and a late charge he couldn't pull it off but gets a 2nd place to show for a good race after starting from the rear. Bristol would bring a solid 9th bringing him up to 17th in the standings. But it wouldn't last long, not from another penalty on Johnson but by having the final stage of appeal work to get his 25 points restored. And now that boosts him to 11th in points and the 48 camp is relieved by this result. Crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec also doesn't have to serve their 6 race suspension now because of team owner Rick Hendrick went to the final stage of appeal it meant they could stay on the team until they got the results and it worked to perfection Jimmie Johnson would sum up his feelings in a tweet "I'm glad this is over. Now on to Cali #6pack." His crew chief still had to pay the $100,000 fine but he would say "It's been a tough 30 days, it's not about vindication. It's time to move on." The 48 Lowes team would move onto an uneventful 10th place finish at California after the race ran all the way to the rain shortening caution at lap 124 and then the field was frozen and that's that. Next up on his quest for the "6pack" of championships Jimmie Johnson is after is one of his strongest racetracks, Martinsville. While he may have qualified 22nd he would be a factor for the win. By lap 100 Jimmie would be in 8th and after caution flag stops for Kyle Busch's crash he'd get to 6th. But he was too fast exiting pit road meaning that he'd restart at the tail end of the longest line the last lead lap car in 21st so he practically had to reduce his work in the first 5th of the race. By the halfway point he'd be in 6th this time but would fall to 8th after some stayed out after green flag pitstops. And then after losing a spot on the restart he just eased his way through the field with a superior car and a slight tire advantage he passed Martin Truex Jr, Aric Almorola before Juan Pablo Montoya spun out on the backstretch bunching the field back up for 5 time. And with his veteran experience knowing to be patient when he approached the cars ahead Johnson wasted no time getting by the 2003 series champion Matt Kenseth, 4 time Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski's Penske Dodge, teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr, and short track lover Clint Bowyer. Plus on lap 315 by Chad Knaus "There is only one car on the track that you haven't passed, and that's the leader. Go get him." And the leader is 4 time champion Jeff Gordon a teammate at Hendrick Motorsports. A caution would come out that same lap so Johnson can have a go at him but it was at his 3rd and newest teammate at HMS Kasey Kahne blowing an engine. He would not get by him immediately at the start but at lap 356 he would finally get the lead. But would lose it 2 spots after temporarily stalled because Chad Knaus wanted to make sure all the lugnuts were on cause that would give him another penalty if they weren't all on and he misunderstood the signal the NASCAR official was giving him. Anyway still in contention he'd have to beat 2 of the best Martinsville drivers on the current grid. Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin. On the restart he'd get by his teammate and now would have to work the 11 and the Virginia native is not making it easy for the California native. With Gordon on his tail and the lap traffic approaching he would get past the FedEx Toyota. But it would not be so easy with the 24 lurking in his review mirror. Johnson would hang onto the lead for the closing stages but that is when Gordon made his move. A little bit similar to 2007 when these two were battling for the win and the championship that year but this is the battle for who gets Rick Hendrick's 200th carrer cup series win and with 9 championships between these drivers also is 140 of the 199 wins. So the ego is there wanting to win for themselves and be the driver to get number 200 and Gordon is there 4 to go and 4 time is alongside 5 time into 3 and the caution is out! David Reutimann has stopped on the frontstretch! But now the question is who was out in front when the caution came out?

The positions are based on the last scoring loop the cars cross before the caution came out and as shown Gordon just edged out Johnson, and now strategy comes with the top 2 staying out while everyone else comes in for tires. Next comes a green white checkered finish. And into turn 1 Bowyer goes 3 wide after getting a push for Ryan Newman and ALL 3 wreck in turns 1 and 2! And the Hendrick Motorsports 1-2-3 goes in an instant right there! After all 4 of the Hendrick cars were in 4 of the top 5 spots at one point, all they have to show is a 3rd for Dale Jr who lead 3 laps, Jimmie Johnson after leading 111 laps finished 12th, 14th for Gordon for dominanting the race with 329 laps in front, and Kasey Kahne who only finished 256 laps after blowing an engine in 38th place. A disappointing end to a dominant day for Hendrick Motorsports. And for the first time Johnson actually lost a spot in the points standings from 9th to 10th. But the 48 would fight back at the next race in Texas after starting 10th, the 5 time champion would slowly progress through the field to 7th till a great pitstop under caution at lap 69, Johnson cracked the top 5. And then he got up to 3rd by lap 97 and at lap 100 he would be on the move to get by Greg Biffle. 12 laps later he would get the lead and pulled away until he stayed out longer on worn tires and fell back to 4th. But with the combination of a brand new fast car and slightly fresher tires he would work his way back to the lead at lap 180. But it would not be so straight forward because the race would stay green to the finish in a 234 lap green flag run from the restart to the finish. But still Johnson held on to the lead with lightning fast stops and his veteran experience. But with 31 to go Biffle ran the 48 down and passed him and Johnson would not get the lead back. He even got in the wall for trying to catch Biffle and repass him but a 2nd is all he has to show for leading 156 laps. But in Kansas the sight of his previous win he would strike back with a 3rd place. And at Richmond he would get a 6th place after a top 5 and even maybe a win slipped from his grasp after a caution pitstop with under 90 laps to go with a crew member rolling the left rear tire out of his hands to the wall and that's a violation. But still in the title race Johnson lies 24 points behind Greg Biffle in 6th place. Even though the 48 hasn't won a race yet and Rick Hendrick hasn't gotten number 200 yet they both remain adamant that their wins are coming. But it wasn't coming at Talladega, after running early and leading 5 laps an engine problem would end Jimmie's day early. Next up is Darlington, known as the track too tough to tame or the lady in black. One of the crown jewels in NASCAR. And Johnson excelled with leading 85 of the first 194 laps. But after choosing to take 4 tires when others took 2 pushed him back into the lower part of the top 10. But still nothing to worry about with him working his way back up to the front. But fuel strategy came into play late in the race with Chad Knaus making the decision to keep Jimmie Johnson out on track to save 3 laps worth of gas. But he also had the task of getting the lead back from his former teammate Kyle Busch, with 44 to go he would do just that. Now he would need to hold on and save fuel. And when Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch wreck off turn 2 meant a late restart and a green white checkered. Johnson had the task to hold of the guy who was the best on restarts in the end of 2011, defending champion Tony Stewart. And finally the 200th career win for Rick Hendrick comes through Jimmie Johnson who wins the Southern 500! At last the 48 got his first win of the season and this placed him 5th in the points, 39 behind Greg Biffle. And before the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte comes a no point race just for fun to the fans and a chance to get 1 million dollars richer. And that is the All Star Race. And Johnson wins the million dollars for the 3rd time in his career after winning the first segment and hanging out back. The momentum seemed to kick off in the 600 with Johnson being in the top 5 for most of the night. But a rare off night for the 48 pit crew proved costly with a rare mistake that saw Johnson leave stall with the gas can stuck. This would result with an 11th place. But however the Lowes Chevrolet would not be slowed in Dover by taming the monster mile by matching Bobby Allison and Richard Petty as the only drivers to win 7 races at the track. He did this after leading 289 of 400 laps. Pocono would be a rollercoaster for the 48 team. After starting 24th he'd be just outside the top 5 before pitstops.... until a speeding penalty meant he'd return with a pass through penalty. But even worse is that while he was serving his penalty he got busted for speeding again! In section 10 was the problem for him and most of the drivers as well because there was 22 speeding penalties in the race! But he fought back to get a well deserved 4th place. And he would finish 5th in Michigan and Sonoma with a 6th in Kentucky creating a streak of 5 straight top 10s and 4 of them are top 5s. But it would come to an end at Daytona when Johnson wrecked. But 5 time would return to form with a 7th place finish in New Hampshire. 7 races remain in the regular season and Johnson was 4th in the standings 89 points above 11th place driver Carl Edwards. With the chase approaching it was very obvious that the 48 team was going to make the chase. It was a matter of where they were going to be seeded. And at Indianapolis, EVERYONE wants to celebrate a win by kissing the bricks at the finish line. And early on in the race Johnson showed the sheer speed that he had in the car that won at Dover earlier in the year. After the first round of stops Johnson claimed the race lead. Even with a unique strategy ran by Brad Keselowski the 48 was still dominant and hardly being challenged. But with a caution late in the race fuel became a slight concern. But it would not slow Jimmie down. On the final restart he just scooted away from the field to replicate his hero former CART/CCWS driver Rick Mears and teammate 4 time Cup champion Jeff Gordon to win 4 races at the Brickyard after leading 99 of the 160 laps! Claiming his 3rd win of the season it appeared the 48 can return to the chase as the driver to beat for the championship. And Pocono just seemed to not set any delay on his speed. Even though rain delayed the race start for an hour and a half. And even with a 10th starting spot he would assume the lead at lap 39 from his teammate Dale Jr and dominate once again. However with the caution coming out for Kurt Busch wrecking in turn 2 made a chance for a restart that could decide the winner with rain approaching once again. The green flag is out and it's a drag race between he and Matt Kenseth heading into turn 1 side by side! And Johnson is sideways into Kenseth but Johnson saves it but would lose many spots with Kenseth, Biffle and Hamlin wrecking behind! And in the all of the confusion it gave his teammates Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne a 1-2 finish with the 5 car in 2nd witha flat right rear tire. Meanwhile Johnson has a 14th place to show for leading the most laps at 44. At Watkins Glen next week he finished 3rd and would do something he hasn't done since Atlanta last year, lead the points standings. And it looked like it would continue at Michigan despite having to start at the back for an engine change. But he would quickly make his way to 11th before strategy shifted him up and down and the middle of the race. But with the finish in sight Chad Knaus's strategy was superior with it all starting with pitting at an early caution. So with 50 to go Johnson was 2nd, and 3 laps later he'd get the lead away from Dale Earnhardt Jr. With a pitstop left in the race the 48 took 2 tires. And the 2 of Brad Keselowski doing the same managed to jump Johnson to the 48 team's suprise. But when Trevor Bayne wrecked in turn 1 a restart was on the cards. With 10 to go Johnson was all over the blue deuce trying to put as much pressure on him to force a mistake and get him loose. And out of turn 2 he'd do just that and spotter Earl Barban "All right baby let's air this thing out. Just don't look back." And that's what he was doing but now he has Greg Biffle in 2nd but it seemed like victory was in sight of the 48 team at a track they actually never won at before. Yep for a 5 time champion team you'd think that they did won everything there was to win. And you know where else he hasn't won? The Glen, Chicagoland, Homestead, and Kentucky. The bluegrass state was added to the calendar last year so one of these boxes were about to be checked off right? Well with 6 to go Biffle ate a chunk out of Johnson's lead and there is a puff of smoke from the 48 car! And you'd just hear when Jimmie got passed "You've gotta be kidding me!" But he gets told to just finish the race and 5 time felt like the motor laid down and his team wasn't sure if he was joking and he isn't. And the next lap it would blow up. And an aggravated Johnson says "That's it it's dead!" Just what an unfortunate turn of events for the 48 team. But it's racing sometimes from the highs of leading the race with 6 laps to go to the low of heading for the garage with 5 to go from the end. But if it's any consolation Johnson clinches a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup with a 2nd in Bristol. But despite not getting the finishes with a 34th at Atlanta and 13th at Richmond the speed was still there and into the chase beginning race at Chicago Jimmie Johnson was looked at as one of the main favourites for the championship. And he proved it with the pole at Chicago with the car that dominated and won at Dover and Indianapolis. It didn't stop there with Johnson dominating the race. But he would be challenged by chase rival Brad Keselowski. The blue deuce took 2 tires on a caution flag stop and the 48 couldn't get past him on track. So the put crew stepped up and got their man ahead of the 2 car. And it appeared to be evenly matched between the 2 drivers with only 1.1 seconds between them before the final pitstops. Johnson pitted first with 39 to go and Keselowski pitted a lap later but they were dead even into turn 3 and 4 and Johnson loses the lead into turn 1! Jimmie Johnson who had led 172 laps by far the best car of the day, now with the cycle finishing has 26 laps to catch and pass Keselowski to win a race that he's dominated!

Even though it looked close the 5 time champion was still very pleased with a 2nd place and is still 3 points behind the leader, this time though it was Brad Keselowski. At the next race at New Hampshire the 48 was hoping to go on and get one spot better than Chicago. He started the day 20th but picked up spots steadily throughout the day. And he was in contention for the win late once again but Denny Hamlin was just unbeatable that day but however with a 2nd place he would have a single point lead over the number 2 of Brad Keselowski. Heading to race 3 in the chase was one of Johnson's strongest tracks, Dover. But it was an uncharacteristic day for the 48 team. Not because they ran bad. It was because they didn't lead the most laps in the race. In the previous 7 races at the Monster mile the 7 time Dover winner lead the most laps and won 4 of those previous races. But it was non chaser Kyle Busch who had the monster day with absolute domination. With 89 to go Johnson got the better final pitstop to get the lead. However fuel came into play for the win. Unfortunately after leading 43 laps had to give up the lead to save fuel behind Kyle Busch and chase rival Denny Hamlin. However, the two of them couldn't make it on fuel so he just had to hold station in 3rd to re-inherit the lead. But a master at fuel saving Brad Keselowski was on his tail. So knowing the his rival could make it he did what he could to stay ahead but 15 laps from the finish he was told he has to slow down even more to make it to the end so he had to let Keselowski go. Jimmie at one lap actually failed to meet minimum speed from having to save so much gas. But it worked with a 4th place finish meaning he was now 5 points behind Keselowski. And after a scenario where Johnson had to let drivers go to avoid losing multiple points, comes a track that plagues most of the championship contenders minds, Talladega. The track that is the wild card of the entire chase which has played a deciding factor in determining who will compete for the championship. So the goal for the 48 team is to survive. Trying to be conservative, Johnson hung out at the back for most of the race. And during green flag stops he managed to lead laps gaining a crucial bonus point toward the championship. But after that he just fell to the back trying to avoid the big wreck. But with the laps winding down Johnson started making his wway to the front but still was stuck in the middle of the lead pack. But with the caution coming out for Jamie McMurray's wreck with 5 laps to go came a final restart to decide it all. Johnson's and his other 11 chase competitors were left to fight for EVERY single point.

Even though it took a while to figure out the proper finishing order but one thing that stayed the same was the point deficit now extending to 14 behind Brad after he finished 7th while Johnson finished 17th. Going to Charlotte the 48 needed a strong performance on the track to claw the points to catch the 2 car. And he appeared to be doing that running in the top 5 early and looked to have one of the fastest cars on track. One of his threats would be Keselowski once again after a strategy call that Brad's crew chief Paul Wolfe made by pitting at an early caution for Matt Kenseth's spin at lap 11. So from lap 42-167 began a off sequence battle for the lead. Johnson couldn't get past the blue deuce until lap 71 when Keselowski pitted. After spending 12 laps in the lead he would use his slightly fresher tires to catch Keselowski again to lead 37 more laps. But after the 48 pitted at lap 134 he would lose the lead to this time to Denny Hamiln. Then after a caution came out for debris in turn 1 Johnson took 2 tires to gain the lead again just after halfway. Everyone else took 4 tires behind him however and they ate him up at the restart pushing Jimmie Johnson all the way back to 7th. But by the end of the run he would get back up to 5th. With 110 laps remaining in the race Johnson pitted for fuel only to put himself in a position to make it on one more stop while Keselowski and most of the field stayed out. He would settle out to 8th place after passing Truex, Logono, and Tony Stewart. But under caution with 110 to go the 48 pitted for fuel. along with chase rival Denny Hamlin and others while most of the field stayed out. The field still has to make one more stop at the minimum, most will have to make 2 stops but crucially Keselowski tries to save fuel knowing what Johnson and Hamlin have done behind him. And Brad looked like he was just going to make it 8n his window to set himself up to win the race but out of turn 2 Keselowski's slowing! Is he out of fuel? He is out of gas! The championship leader may have pushed his fuel a lap too far while he just coasts down the pitlane! He's able to get to the pits and get his fuel but it was a 22 second stop trying to refire his car! And 2 laps later Johnson looks like he's out of gas to! He's shaking his car on pit road but he gets back going because at least when he ran out of gas it was in the middle of 3 and 4 coming to the pits and his stop was 14.2 seconds, way better than Keselowski! Now after things cycle out Keselowski is back in the 14th position while Jimmie is in 10th trying to save enough gas to make it to the end of the race. Meanwhile crucially in the championship picture, Brad Keselowski CAN'T make it to the end! The 2 car has to stop again! The other cars that actually can make it to the end without stopping again is Clint Bowyer who didn't pit under the last caution and Denny Hamlin who did meaning he lies in 3rd place. But he needs to slow down a little bit more to avoid running out of gas which he can not afford whatsoever. In the end with a 23 second gap to 4th place behind him Johnson was able to save the fuel, finish 3rd, and cut the gap in the championship standings to 7 points while Keselowski finished 11th. Half of the deficit he came into this race with is erased in a fuel mileage race giving some momentum to Chad Knaus and the whole 48 team. And rightly so in a case that the blue deuce team was the ones who were mainly giving pressure to his rivals this time it was the 48 applying pressure in a fuel mileage race and they beat Keselowski and Paul Wolfe at their own game. So now going to Kansas he looked to close the gap even more. But a new challenge arose at the Kansas speedway, it's a repave. So now the multiple groves come to 1 or 2 making it very slippery out on the track. But you couldn't tell with the way he drove early on by getting to the lead at lap 75 from 7th place. But he would relinquish the top spot at lap 118 to make a green flag pitstop but he would get trapped a lap down after a caution came out for debris from Aric Almorola's car from cutting a right front tire. He would however use the wave around rule to get his lap back but while trying to make his way back to the front. He got his way up to 20th and Johnson is around and he backs his car into the wall at turn 4! The 48 comes to the pits and it gets caught on the radio to head for the garage, huge championship implications to Johnson's attempt at 6. But wait a minute, Chad Knaus then asks to have a look in the pits to see what they could do. And the crew immediately gets to work and uses a lot of tape to fix the car and it looks pretty good all things considered. And even though a chance to win is gone a DNF would have been WAY worse. And after a hard fought day which saw strategy up and down throughout the field and became a war of attrition with multiple wrecks saw the 5 time champion finish 9th right behind the 2 car and drawing even in the points race at 7 points. Race 7 in the chase features another strong track for 5 time, Martinsville. He'd start from the pole and dominate early on. But he would be pressured by Jeff Gordon, by lap 99 Johnson gave the lead up to his 4 time champion teammate. But during caution pitstops he would retake the lead until the 24 zoomed by him on track. The 48 would fade to 4th by lap 130. But on that same lap under caution for former Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil spinning. Jimmie took four tires while others took 2 while Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr stayed out. 5 time would restart 11th but about 20 laps later he went from 11th to 5th. But after a quick caution for Kyle Busch spinning the drivers who stayed out pitted moving Johnson up to 4th. And then at lap 171 he got back to the lead after passing Denny Hamlin but was being hunted by Clint Bowyer and 12 laps after passing Hamlin he fell to 2nd behind the 15. But he would continue to fade ever so slightly until he was 8th. But then after green flag stops he just flew past Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Denny Hamlin who was suffering technical difficulties with his master switch that brought out a caution, and Jeff Gordon. Then after pitstops he got back to the lead. But with the race nearing its closing stages the day is not over with Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer behind breathing down his neck. The last thing you want to do is wreck or bring out a yellow flag.

Well that was unwelcomed. But nothing to worry about, Jimmie still held the lead and even claimed the bonus point for leading the most laps. 25 laps remaining however and Harvick blows up setting up a pressure packed pitstops. But he would restart 3rd on 2 tires because Brad Keselowski and Dale Jr stayed out. So he got by the 88 with ease but Keselowski was a different story. Johnson worked and worked but Jimmie got underneath his championship rival and gets the lead back. And despite one last caution from Dale Jr and Carl Edwards spinning Jimmie held the field off to take the championship lead by 2 points from winning at Martinsville for the 7th time in his career. Next race is at Texas and Johnson was picking up where he left off a week ago at Martinsville by winning the the pole and leading laps early once again. But once again Brad Keselowski and Paul Wolfe pull out a strategic move to jump the 48. But Johnson would get past the 2 and lock up the bonus point for leading the most laps leading 164 of the first 190 laps. Lap 191 at a restart Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski managed to get past Johnson. It definitely looked like he lost the handle on his car as he faded to 4th after Gordon got past him. But with 79 laps to go he got past Kyle Busch for 3rd and a few laps later Gordon pitted after fearing a right front tire was going flat putting Johnson to 2nd. It looked like his car was tuned back in but the lone challenger ahead of him was his main championship rival. But a caution when Marcos Ambrose blew a right front came with 57 laps remaining set up a fuel mileage race once again and the 48 team dreaded fuel mileage races. True they have done pretty well recently but multiple times over the years it cost him wins and great results, especially with it being Keselowski's strength. But a consolation to some degree would be that Keselowski made a crucial mistake by locking his brakes getting into his stall. But to make matters worse for the 2 team is that because of former Indy car driver Danica Patrick has her stall right in front of them and because Keselowski slid through his pit he had to shift into reverse so he could get out placing the Penske driver 9th. In the next run Johnson would just be 2nd right behind Kyle Busch trying to manage saving fuel and trying to win the race. But a caution offered another bittersweet outcome. With about 20 laps left in the race fuel isn't a concern anymore but guess what happens during pitstops? Keselowski gets the lead back after taking 2 tires! And normally on a track like Texas the difference between 2 tires and the 4 tires Johnson has he'd just blow by him right? Nope! He was still behind him but the caution came out for debris set up a restart for the two championship rivals to battle it out for the win.

This shows how much it means to have that position on the track not knowing what difference it could make in the championship. Especially after the 2011 battle for the title ended in a TIE. As shown Keselowski and Johnson got those belts pulled tight and battled so hard! After the restart it looked like that was how the race was going to finish one final caution sets them up to go head to head once again at a green white checkered! But on Johnson's 3rd attempt to get the lead back from the 2 car he powers his way past his championship rival and the 5 time champion becomes a 5 time winner in 2012 extending his championship lead to 7 points! Twice in a row Johnson obtained maximum points to aid him closing the gap and eventually surpassing his rival. He was on a hot streak and boy now is a great time to have it. Going to Phoenix for the penultimate race, Jimmie would have his work cut out for him with a rough 24th starting spot. But Keselowski started 14th so they'd both have a bunch of cars to pass at the start. And they both began picking up spots throughout the race. Slowly but surely they were in the top 10 by the halfway  mark. Johnson was 9th and Keselowski 4th. With 79 to go Keselowski gets the lead from Kyle Busch. That is definitely not something Jimmie wanted to see with him being 7th. But there is still a bunch of race left and the car looked to be getting better and better each time they hit the pits. A lap later a caution is out and Johnson is in the wall! Jimmie Johnson is in the wall! And in an instant things take a turn for the worse for the 48! He drives his car to the pit lane in hopes to just change tires and get back out on the racetrack, but caught on the radio and seen on pit road is Jimmie Johnson heading for the garage area! Bad news for Johnson's championship hopes! But Chad Knaus and company never gave up trying to repair the vehicle enough to get back on track trying to get any points they could. It resulted in a 32nd place finish while Keselowski finished 7th. So in the season finale Jimmie Johnson was 20 points behind the 2 car. Johnson would need a great run on track while hoping Keselowski finished 16th or worse at Homestead. The 48 began the race 10th while Keselowski was 3rd. But as the race went on the 2 slightly faded while the 48 slightly rose with Keselowski was 6th and Johnson 7th. A debris caution came to tighten things up for the title with another long green flag stretch placing Johnson 4th and Keselowski 11th. It started to look like ever so slightly that the night was starting to swing in the 48's favor. But then at lap 144 the agression that Chad Knaus showed proved to be trying everything they can to win the race. Johnson pitted for 2 tires grabbing the lead under yellow gaining a point for leading a lap that Keselowski hasn't done yet and the blue deuce took 4 tires putting him in the middle of the pack around the end of his safe zone should Johnson win the race. During the 6 lap run before the 6 car of 2 time Xfinity champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr brought out the caution briefly showed a tie for the points lead with Johnson getting the tiebreaker as they ran at the moment. But during the aforementioned caution Johnson pitted to take 2 tires again. This put him in a position to make it to the end with one more pitstop. While Keselowski stayed out in 7th. The green flag flies and Johnson quickly charged his way to the top 5 starting with 2 3 wide passes one the first lap of the restart. But after everyone settled in Johnson ran in 4th while Brad was in 11th. With just under 70 to go Johnson assumed the lead after the drivers ahead of him pitted. But crucially for the 48, he was ahead of the drivers on his strategy as he runs out some more laps trying to get to his fuel window. 62 laps to go in 2012 and Keselowski reported that he's out of gas into turn 3! He was trying to stretch his fuel trying to match the 48 and oh boy! They nearly gave Johnson a championship on a silver platter! As they run Johnson is 7 points to the good so all Johnson and company need to do is have a smooth stop. No mistakes, get it full of fuel, no uncontrolled tires, and no speeding penalty. With 55 to go the stop commences. So far so good on the right and as the left side is done, the pitstop finishes at 14.8 seconds. But a NASCAR official was walking over to a crew guy like something is wrong. And seconds later Chad Knaus sighs on the radio and says they have to come back into pit road because of a lugnut not on the car! That means that Johnson has to pit again. And this penalty couldn't have come at a worse time putting him in 25th a lap down. Ok NOW he needs a pure miracle. With 39 to go Johnson is off the pace! The 48 is back to the pits again complaining about smoke in the car and in a matter of laps the championship has practically was just lost as the 48 gets pushed to the garage with a rear end gear faliure. Just like that the season was done and Johnson finished 3rd in the final points standings. Just a disappointing way to end a season. But however, in 2 of the next 6 seasons becoming only the third driver ever to win 7 championships in the Cup Series. But looking back it'll make you ask,
What if the right front doesn't blow at Phoenix? What if the rear end gear holds up at Homestead? Or after seing Jimmie Johnson have so much success in his quest for 8 championships people will wonder for him in 2012, What might have been?