Johnson closes in on Cup title with win

The reigning champion now needs just an 18th place finish in the season finale at Homestead next week to clinch the title, while Jeff Gordon will need to win an count on some bad luck for his teammate in order to take an elusive fifth crown. Odds are definitely not in Gordon's favor.

Johnson drove a steady race and climbed from fifth place on the last restart to the lead in a matter of 14 laps.

Matt Kenseth gave Johnson a tough time while battling for second but after he was able to get by him, the Hendrick driver easily went past Martin Truex Jr who was struggling for grip.

In the last 24 laps Johnson opened a comfortable gap ahead while Greg Biffle recovered in a similar way to his, slowing down the pace for the leader's pursuers and allowing Johnson to walk his way to his first ever victory at Phoenix, and probably the most crucial of the year for him.

"I'm shaking my head, I don't know what to think about," said an ecstatic Johnson. "I'm terrible playing defense, so I've just got to go out and do my thing.

"Up there racing with guys like Martin (Truex) and Matt (Kenseth), as we showed it last week, we ran side-by-side and run 100 per cent without crashing each other. I just put a lot of faith in that when I race these guys."

"We wanted to be up front leading laps and doing all we could to control the race. We just didn't have everything right until the end.

"We did a two-tyre stop in the end and the car was really good on two (new) tyres. The perfect situation came together for us and we took advantage of it."

Last year Johnson was leading the points going into the final race at Homestead and just needed just a 12th place finish to become champion.

This time he can just chase Gordon all the way to the final chequered flag of the season, but as he showed today, he won't be happy just racing for points. He wants an unprecedented fifth consecutive win.

"I'll fall back on last year's experience and try to go there, repeat it, do it again and if we just race the 24 (Gordon) all day long we'll be in good shape. But that's not our motto," Johnson added.

"We'll be there racing up front, trying to stay up on the top three, top five and hopefully everything goes to plan. Jeff is a true champion, a great friend and teammate and it's been a heck of a battle.

"I know it's not over yet. He's going to go to Homestead and give me all he's got."

Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth took second and third behind Johnson with Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman rounding up the top five.

Martin Truex Jr plummeted from the lead to seventh in the end after electing not to pit on the penultimate caution of the afternoon.

Jeff Gordon finished tenth and once again he was unable to pose a serious threat for victory. He ran in the top ten for most of the day chasing the right balance on his car, something that prevented him from even leading a lap.

His race was also affected by an incident with Kevin Harvick with 52 laps to go when they were battling for eighth place.

The pair made contact on turn two after Harvick tried to get payback for a defensive move made by Gordon on the frontstretch, which caused the four-time champion a pushed-in left front fender that started to rub badly with the tyre.

Gordon pitted for fuel, repairs and four tyres, dropping down to 12th place for the last restart but was unable to recover much in the remaining 38 laps, struggling with lapped traffic despite running fresh tyres.

Clint Bowyer finished eleventh and is already mathematically out of the championship going into the final race at Homestead.

However, he has a comfortable margin to fourth-placed Kyle Busch, who will be trying his best in one week to take a top three sweep in the championship by Hendrick Motorsports drivers.

At the back and out of the spotlight the race unfolded in different ways for former open-wheel racers Sam Hornish Jr, Patrick Carpentier and Jacques Villeneuve.

For Villeneuve it all ended on lap 137 when Kasey Kahne turned him into the outside wall on the backstretch, although Villeneuve accepted he probably closed the door on him.

"We were all the way up there and there was someone on the inside and I didn't know there was someone on the outside," said Villeneuve referring to Kahne. "I just noticed him once I was already spun and touched him. I'm not sure what exactly happened and. I'm very sorry."

Sam Hornish Jr had an uneventful race finishing 30th and two laps down. He stalled his car during a pitstop but was not involved in any incidents, taking advantage of some crucial seat time in preparation for his first full year in Cup next season.

Patrick Carpentier also stayed out of trouble in his first Cup race on an oval, finishing 33rd and two laps down on Johnson as well.

Meanwhile Juan Pablo Montoya was once again the highest finishing rookie of the race, crossing the line in 17th place after battling handling issues and brake problems at times.

He will be crowned as the 2007 Raybestos Rookie of the year at Homestead next week.

Pos  Driver              Make        Laps
 1.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet    312
 2.  Greg Biffle         Ford         312
 3.  Matt Kenseth        Ford         312
 4.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet    312
 5.  Ryan Newman         Dodge        312
 6.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet    312
 7.  Martin Truex Jr     Chevrolet    312
 8.  Kyle Busch          Chevrolet    312
 9.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet    312
10.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet    312
11.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet    312
12.  Kurt Busch          Dodge        312
13.  Casey Mears         Chevrolet    312
14.  J.J. Yeley          Chevrolet    312
15.  Johnny Sauter       Chevrolet    312
16.  Denny Hamlin        Chevrolet    312
17.  Juan Montoya        Dodge        312
18.  Bobby Labonte       Dodge        312
19.  Reed Sorenson       Dodge        312
20.  David Stremme       Dodge        312
21.  Brian Vickers       Toyota       312
22.  Paul Menard         Chevrolet    312
23.  Jamie McMurray      Ford         312
24.  Robby Gordon        Ford         312
25.  Sterling Marlin     Chevrolet    311
26.  Aric Almirola       Chevrolet    311
27.  Elliott Sadler      Dodge        311
28.  David Gilliland     Ford         311
29.  Kyle Petty          Dodge        311
30.  Sam Hornish Jr      Dodge        310
31.  Dave Blaney         Toyota       310
32.  David Ragan         Ford         310
33.  Patrick Carpentier  Dodge        310
34.  Bill Elliott        Ford         310
35.  Ricky Rudd          Ford         309
36.  Johnny Benson       Toyota       308
37.  Tony Raines         Chevrolet    291
38.  Joe Nemechek        Chevrolet    241
39.  Jeremy Mayfield     Chevrolet    212
40.  Kasey Kahne         Dodge        147
41.  Jacques Villeneuve  Toyota       136
42.  Carl Edwards        Ford         125
43.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet    118

Chase for the Cup - Points Standing:

Pos  Driver           Change  Points
 1.  Jimmie Johnson           6572
 2.  Jeff Gordon              6486  - 86
 3.  Clint Bowyer             6331  -241
 4.  Kyle Busch               6185  -387
 5.  Tony Stewart       +1    6169  -403
 6.  Matt Kenseth       +4    6103  -469
 7.  Kevin Harvick      +1    6093  -479
 8.  Jeff Burton        -1    6089  -483
 9.  Carl Edwards       -4    6067  -505
10.  Kurt Busch         -1    6056  -516
11.  Martin Truex Jr    +1    6009  -563
12.  Denny Hamlin       -1    5973  -599