Matt Kenseth may have won the battle for the Ford 400 on Sunday, but Jimmie Johnson won the war for the Nextel Cup Championship.

Johnson finished 12 races of virtual domination against his Chase for the Championship competition with a seventh place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway, while rival Jeff Gordon - who had virtually given up the title race after Johnson won at Phoenix - stopped in fourth. And as good as Gordon's fourth place finish was, it wasn't enough to win the title.

"It's a dream come true for all us of at Hendrick Motorsports," said Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief to US media. "But I can't say enough about Jimmie. He's been the best all year long."

Johnson finished 77 points ahead of teammate Jeff Gordon in the title race. Clint Bowyer came third overall, Kenseth fourth, Kyle Busch fifth, Tony Stewart sixth, Kurt Busch seventh, Jeff Burton eighth, Carl Edwards ninth, Kevin Harvick 10th, Martin Truex Jr 11th and Denny Hamlin 12th.

And Johnson added that the #48 car might be a sign of years to come.

"It's a great day and great feeling. I think we're really just hitting our stride. We have a lot of great years ahead of us."

In other news, Juan Pablo Montoya's up-and-down season finished on a high when he was given the "Rookie of the Year" award. He finished in 20th in points overall, but went one more than fan favourite Dale Earnhardt Jr by winning a race.

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