It comes a little too late, but Matt Kenseth ends things with a win.

In case you have been living under a rock for the past month, Jimmie Johnson is the 2007 Nextel Cup Champion. Johnson finished his last race of the year in seventh place, and looks to carry his momentum into next year.

"We're just really hitting our stride," Johnson said about the chemistry between himself and crew chief, Chad Knaus. "I think that we have a lot of good years ahead of us and we'll be fighting for more championships and certainly winning more races as the years go by, and hopefully be a three-time champion in the near future."

However, a more impressive story managed to leak its way through the glitzy television graphics of Johnson and his trophy: Matt Kenseth won!

Kenseth lead 214 of the 267 laps in the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and claimed his second win of the season. In a weekend dedicated to the champion, Kenseth still found a way to celebrate.

“I didn't really want to go out there and share the stage or take away attention from him. Then I starting thinking: he's won 10 races this year and he's burned up 12 sets of tires in [victory celebrations] the last four weeks, and he won the championship last year, so I figured it wasn't a big deal for me to go out there and do a burnout and then take off."

For Kenseth’s crew chief, Robbie Reiser, it was the perfect way to end his final season as crew chief with Kenseth and his team.

Another NASCAR personality moving onto greener pastures next season is Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was not able to redeem his season. Earnhardt’s final race with DEI ended with a less-than-impressive thirty-sixth place finish. Before the race even started, Dale moved to the back of the pack after fixing his engine, due to a tangle in the garage with Kevin Harvick. However, Earnhardt continued to plow through and gain ground until lap fifty, where he once again tangled with Harvick and Kyle Busch was he entered the pits. Earnhardt’s day continued to grow worse seven laps later, when Jeff Burton rear-ended him on the re-start. Two more penalties for entering pit road too early and speeding while on pit road set Earnhardt back six laps behind the leader. Perhaps these words from the future driver of the 88 sum it up best:

"It's been hard, man. This whole year has been hard – and I don't ever want to do it again.”

However, Earnhardt did not linger on the past for too long. Instead, he continues to look forward to the 2008 season with his new team over at Hendrick Motorsports. "I just want to get happy. I want to get to where I'm in a good place, and I want to get to a place where I can run well and win races like I know I can."

Jeff Gordon came eighty-six points away from his fifth championship. However, the Nextel Cup escaped his clutches, despite finishing three positions a head of Johnson. Gordon’s season was noting to be upset about, though, despite Gordon’s disappointment.

“I put up about as good a numbers as I know how to put up, and it wasn't enough. And that's tough to handle as a competitor."

In the end, Gordon racked up six victories, twenty-one top-five finishes, thirty top-ten finishes, and only one DNF.

Next season promises more excitement as Nextel becomes Sprint. Jimmie Johnson will attempt to make the Cup his for the third year in a row while Hendrick Teammate Jeff Gordon keeps chasing his elusive fifth championship. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will add an extra 8 to his door panel and swap paint schemes with Kasey Kahne, who will become the new “Bud Boy”. Joe Gibbs Racing will make the jump to Toyota, while open-wheel drivers make the jump into the rookie class. Whatever happens week from week, race from race, the Checkered Flag will around to break it all down!