NASCAR at Homestead-Miami 400 2013 Leaderboard Results and Sprint Cup Standings

Jimmie Johnson handled the NASCAR Sprint Series' final race of the season at the Homestead-Miami track with all the poise and intelligence one would expect from a six-time series champion, and that is what he is now. 

While Denny Hamlin captured the checkered flag on Sunday, Johnson is the big story here. After the race Johnson was in shock (via ESPN):

After finishing in ninth in the final race of the season, Johnson earned his sixth championship by 19 points over Matt Kenseth. This is Johnson's first championship since he won five straight from 2006 to 2010. He now trails both Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt by just one championship for the all-time record. 

Kenseth entered the race second in the season standings and put together a fantastic afternoon. He spent a lot of the race in the lead and wound up finishing second. 

He and Dale Earnhardt Jr. battled for the lead in the late laps, and that allowed Hamlin, Kenseth's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, to chase them down and eventually pass them for the win. 

Unfortunately for Kenseth, Johnson was not going to let anyone steal this championship from him.  

Take a look at the finishing order for Miami followed by the final point standings for 2013: 

Pos.	Driver	Manufacturer
1	Denny Hamlin	Toyota
2	Matt Kenseth	Toyota
3	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet
4	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota
5	Clint Bowyer	Toyota
6	Brad Keselowski	Ford
7	Kyle Busch	Toyota
8	Joey Logano	Ford
9	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
10	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet
11	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
12	Carl Edwards	Ford
13	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet
14	Elliott Sadler	Toyota
15	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet
16	Aric Almirola	Ford
17	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet
18	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chevrolet
19	Mark Martin	Chevrolet
20	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet
21	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet
22	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford
23	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet
24	Greg Biffle	Ford
25	Parker Kligerman	Toyota
26	Marcos Ambrose	Ford
27	David Gilliland	Ford
28	Casey Mears	Ford
29	David Ragan	Ford
30	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet
31	David Reutimann	Toyota
32	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet
33	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet
34	Ken Schrader	Ford
35	Joe Nemechek	Toyota
36	AJ Allmendinger	Toyota
37	Travis Kvapil	Toyota
38	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet
39	Paul Menard	Chevrolet
40	Trevor Bayne	Ford
41	Josh Wise	Ford
42	Tony Raines	Chevrolet
43	Michael McDowell	Ford

Pos.	Driver	Points	Deficit
1	Jimmie Johnson	2419	-
2	Matt Kenseth	2400	-19
3	Kevin Harvick	2385	-34
4	Kyle Busch	2364	-55
5	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2363	-56
6	Jeff Gordon	2337	-82
7	Clint Bowyer	2336	-83
8	Joey Logano	2323	-96
9	Greg Biffle	2321	-98
10	Kurt Busch	2309	-110
11	Ryan Newman	2286	-133
12	Kasey Kahne	2283	-136
13	Carl Edwards	2282	-137

Johnson entered the race with a 28-point lead over Kenseth and a 34-point lead over Kevin Harvick. They were the only three drivers with a mathematical chance at the title.  

Johnson had a strong car on Sunday, but spent most of the day behind Kenseth. Without the ability to run in clean air up front, Johnson ran a smart race. 

He mostly ran between fifth and 12th. He was careful to give himself distance from tight packs to help avoid a race-ending wreck and was able to keep himself in a solid position in the process. 

While there was no "Big One" in this race, it was not lacking in tense drama. Paul Menard blew his tire on the track. As he was pulling into the pits, flames were slightly visible around the blown tire. 

When he came to a stop, those flames erupted: 

Luckily, no one was hurt.

Meanwhile, Johnson avoided disaster, but it was not all smooth sailing for No. 48: 

That created for some anxious moments, as all eyes were on Johnson to see if he would continue to drop back. The Hendrick Motorsports team was not going to let that happen, though.

Johnson steadily worked his way back up, and his sixth championship drew closer by the lap: 

Johnson finished off the race in steady fashion, and he now has the hardware to show for it.