Johnson one step closer to the title after his fourth win in row

There’s just one race of the Nextel Cup Series, the Miami Speedway race, and Jimmie Johnson, after his fourth win in row, is feeling the title in his hands; and Jeff Gordon is trying his best to ruin Johnson’s plans.

Johnson took command of the Nextel Cup championship Sunday, winning at Phoenix International Raceway to open a daunting lead over his teammate in the race to the title. It was his 10th win of the season – most since Gordon won 13 in 1998 – and barring a collapse in next week’s finale, Johnson will become the first driver to win consecutive championships since Gordon did it in 1997 and 1998.

The defending Nextel Cup champion, heads to next week’s season finale at Homestead, with a comfortable 86-point lead over Gordon. He needs to finish just 18th or better to win his second championship in just six seasons.

Jimmie Johnson

Jeff Gordon realized that he almost lost all his chances to win the title and declares: "It’s over. Even if we win it, it’s because they have problems. While we’ll accept it, we don’t want to do it that way. Those guys have flat-out killed everybody. And you’ve got to give credit where credit is due."

Johnson declared regarding to the next race: "Homestead is going to be a stressful weekend. We’ve got seven more days, I’m just going to try to keep my mind clear and focus on the things we need to do. This is kind of where we were last year. We just have to go down there and be smart and see how it shakes out."

Greg Biffle finished second and Matt Kenseth, his Roush Fenway Racing teammate, was third. Tony Stewart was fourth and was followed by Ryan Newman, Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. Jeff Gordon had a disappointing performance and finished tenth.

Jimmie Johnson & Jeff Gordon

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