Chase Master
Jimmie Johnson timed his surge of form to perfection to see off Carl Edwards' challenge and clinch his third straight Sprint Cup title, while Kyle Busch was left to wonder what happened to his early season winning habit. Diego Mejia tells the story of 2008
When the 2009 season started, Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus were still having a tough time trying to get a grip on the handling of their Chevy Impala. With the new Cup car being introduced for the whole season, they were still discovering what others had already found out during testing in the winter at the intermediate tracks.
However, when crunch-time came, No.48 was right there. Looking back, it seemed like during the regular season they were just gearing up for the Chase. While Kyle Busch was doing most of the winning, Johnson was still setting it all up, hitting top form in the 26th week of his racing calendar - just in time to defend his crown and match Cale Yarborough's feat of three consecutive titles 30 years later.
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