Jimmie Johnson managed to win his second straight NASCAR Nextel Cup as he crossed the finish line seventh in Miami. The seventh spot was just enough for Jimmie to win the season championship by 77 points over his teammate Jeff Gordon.

The 32-year-old driver had 86 points ahead of Gordon before the last race of the season after he had won four races in a row. Gordon eventually finished fourth at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Matt Kenseth emerged as the race winner.

Johnson won 10 races this season and earned $6.7 million in prize money this year. His car, a No. 48 Chevrolet, and Gordon’s No. 24 were both built in the same shop in Charlotte and so both teams share all there is to know about the two cars.

“You dream about winning one of these and doing it back- to-back, it's really special. To have the two cars run like this all year, it's great. The most gratifying thing to me was the 24 team during the race and after the race, the way they handled it,'' said car owner Hendrick who is at his seventh championship win and trails all-time leader Petty Enterprises by two titles.

Next season Hendrick will include in his team Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s most- popular driver, who will take Kyle Busch’s spot.

Last year Johnson won the championship by 56 points over Kenseth. If next season he manages to win it again he will match Cale Yarborough, the only driver to ever win three consecutive titles (1976-78). Jimmie Johnson is the first driver to win back-to-back titles since Gordon in 1997-98 and also the first one to accomplish that since the 10-race Chase playoff format was introduced in 2004.

"It is just such a special time for me," Johnson said. "I am so blessed. It is just awesome."

The El Cajon, California native became the first rookie in the Cup series to sweep both races at a track when he won at Dover International Speedway. He also became the first rookie ever to lead in the point standings. Johnson has never finished below fifth in the final NEXTEL Cup points standings and finished second twice - in 2003 and 2004.