HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Thoughts, observations and a few questions following the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the season finale of the 2008 Sprint Cup series:

• I'm not sure which statistic about Jimmie Johnson's career is more remarkable: that he has become only the second driver in NASCAR history to win three titles in a row, that his third championship comes in only his seventh season of full-time competition or that during his Cup series career he never has finished worse than fifth in the final points standings.

The fact that Johnson has been able to accomplish what he's done in such a short period of time, the way I see it, makes him the best that the sport ever has seen.

• Despite every dire scenario that could have played out during this final race of the season, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus ran competitively, nearly won the race and defied those skeptics who imagined everything but the actual outcome.

• As race winner Carl Edwards was celebrating his moment in the spotlight for winning the race, Johnson sat patiently in his race car parked in Turn 2. It gave the newly crowned champion several minutes to reflect upon what had just happened.

As soon as the temporary stage was in place on the front stretch for the champion's celebration, Johnson wheeled his Chevy to a spot on the track adjacent to the stage and unleashed a furious series of smoky donuts, much to the crowd's delight. He climbed onto his car and after some fist-pumping, he dove into the waiting arms of his crew, which had surrounded his car.

• Not to be overlooked was Edwards' sweep of the weekend's Nationwide and Cup races and that Sunday was his 16th win of the season (nine Cup and seven Nationwide). And for the second time in three races, Edwards wins as the result of getting incredible fuel mileage, far better than anyone else in the field.

Team owner Jack Roush credits Edwards' driving style. Edwards himself said it stems from his preference to making just one stop during the numerous 12-hour-long road trips he made from Missouri to Charlotte.

He did admit that after seeing teammate Matt Kenseth slow down in the closing laps, he thought it might have been over.

"I was really nervous that Matt was gonna make it and he was gonna be in front of me, so I went a little faster than I should have, and when Matt ran out with three to go I thought, 'Man, I have screwed this up big-time. This is bad,' " said Edwards.

• Kevin Harvick's runner-up finish matched his best result of the year from way back in March at Bristol. The Richard Childress Racing teams have, for the most part, been just a shade off the pace of the Hendrick and Roush teams all year long. Team owner Childress told me they needed to find some speed to catch up with the other teams. You can bet they will by the time Daytona rolls around next year.

• Kurt Busch once again was running Dodge's new R6 Cup engine on Sunday. It was very impressive last weekend on the one-mile track at Phoenix where Busch finished second. However, on Homestead's 1.5-mile layout, it proved not to be ready for prime time on the big tracks, as Busch qualified at the back of the field and ran there until a cut tire on Lap 151 ended any chance of a competitive finish.

• My pick for the race win, Jeff Gordon, nearly pulled it off. His late-race stop for a splash of fuel looked like it might have been a winning move. Of course, there was Harvick and Jamie McMurray to contend with, too. Gordon spent much of the afternoon fighting the traffic in the middle of the field. At one point, the four-time champion was so frustrated he told crew chief Steve Letarte, "Damn, this (expletive) sucks being back here."

• Juan Pablo Montoya was on his way to a top-10 finish until a late pit stop for a splash of fuel relegated him to a 17th-place finish, ending another mediocre season for a driver who I still think is better than his equipment.

• Next season, Montoya apparently will be driving for the recently announced Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team. That pairing, of one of the stock car racing's biggest names with one of open wheel and sports car's most successful team owners, reminds me of the movie where the guy has to pretend he's married so that he can get a promotion. In this case, it's more like two weak links being rubber-banded together in an attempt to make a stronger one.

Or if you prefer, it's like two wounded animals leaning against each other so that they can survive in the jungle.

Am I the only one who can't imagine Chip Ganassi and Teresa Earnhardt agreeing to anything other than to put out a press release announcing their "partnership"?

• And the odd man out in that deal is the newly crowned Raybestos Rookie of the Year, Regan Smith, the real winner of the Talladega race in October.

"I don't know if you can ever get over that," said Smith, who lost the race when he was penalized by NASCAR officials for driving below the yellow line in the final yards of the race. The ruling was the opposite of one made by NASCAR in a similar situation in a previous race.

Smith became the first ROTY in the program's 52-year history to run the entire season without a DNF. Unfortunately, it looks like he'll be without a ride for the '09 season after delivering everything that was expected of him this year.

Racing is a tough business.

• Another driver looking for a ride is former Michael Waltrip Racing driver Michael McDowell, who was spotted walking in the Cup garage on Sunday.

Remember him? He's the guy who survived the most incredible wreck since the one that killed Dale Earnhardt, thanks to the safety built into the new Car of Tomorrow and the SAFER barrier – both of them developed for use in NASCAR a result of Earnhardt's death.

McDowell believes he'll be back in a Cup car before too long. In the meantime, he's secured a ride for the 2009 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

• I hate to sound like a broken record, but AJ Allmendinger delivered another strong performance in the No. 10 Gillett Evernham Dodge. The Dinger finished 11th, the best finish ever for the Valvoline-sponsored Dodge. I can't imagine that Reed Sorenson, who has been signed to drive the car next season, even will come close to equaling Allmendinger's brief tenure for GEM.

• There are times when I watch Robby Gordon race and it just scares the living crap out of me. Could it be that when he's behind the wheel he instantly is transported to some kind of alternate universe? I lost track of how many times Gordon raced against the leaders as if he were racing for the lead, even when he was a lap down.

Postscript:

It's been another great NASCAR season.

Thanks everyone for your support.

That's all folks!

Veteran motorsports writer Bob Margolis is Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR reporter. Send Bob a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Updated on Sunday, Nov 16, 2008 10:23 pm, EST

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