HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Jimmie Johnson never let up in pursuit of a NASCAR record fourth consecutive championship.

This was no easy Sunday drive for the most dominant driver of this decade, even though Johnson needed only a 25th-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway to hold off teammate Mark Martin in the race for the Sprint Cup title.

Instead, Johnson raced hard for 400 miles and even threatened to try to run down the leaders to better his eventual fifth-place finish.

"History, boys!" he shouted as he crossed the finish line. "How about some history!"

Johnson gave team owner Rick Hendrick his own record, a 12th NASCAR championship, on a day that saw mighty Hendrick Motorsports take the top three spots in the final standings. Martin wound up with his fifth runner-up finish in the standings, while Jeff Gordon was third.

"I feel really, really blessed to have had a chance," Martin said.

Upon leaving his car in Victory Lane, Johnson thanked the fans, tears sparkling in his eyes.

"Man, it's going to take a while to sink in," he said.

It was a sometimes-testy drive into history for Johnson, who was at times annoyed rival drivers and even Gordon, the mentor and teammate who helped him land his job with Hendrick Motorsports.

Nobody gave Johnson anything, either. The other drivers raced hard around him all day, making Johnson earn every point in a race won by Denny Hamlin, who established himself as the driver to watch in 2010.

NASCAR SPRINT CUPFORD 400 RESULTS

At Homestead-Miami Speedway

Homestead, Fla.

Lap length: 1.5 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (38) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267 laps, 123.1 rating, 195 points, $347,975. 2. (26) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 267, 121.8, 175, $273,631. 3. (6) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 267, 126.7, 170, $228,128. 4. (12) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 267, 123.2, 165, $157,275. 5. (1) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, 116, 160, $189,401.

6. (20) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 267, 105.2, 150, $141,251. 7. (24) Carl Edwards, Ford, 267, 86.1, 146, $144,981. 8. (30) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267, 102.9, 147, $130,623. 9. (14) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 267, 98, 138, $116,465. 10. (13) AJ Allmendinger, Ford, 267, 86.9, 134, $79,400.

11. (10) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 267, 102.5, 135, $82,975. 12. (4) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 267, 92.8, 127, $82,475. 13. (34) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 267, 71.7, 124, $118,015. 14. (8) Greg Biffle, Ford, 267, 83, 121, $90,025. 15. (22) David Reutimann, Toyota, 267, 81.2, 118, $101,573.

16. (9) Bill Elliott, Ford, 267, 67.3, 115, $69,800. 17. (25) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 267, 75.3, 112, $111,698. 18. (11) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 267, 79.1, 109, $81,400. 19. (15) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 267, 74.4, 106, $86,850. 20. (33) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 267, 65.9, 103, $100,748.

21. (29) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 267, 70.6, 100, $90,860. 22. (5) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 267, 88.7, 102, $90,098. 23. (7) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 267, 77, 94, $100,054. 24. (35) Joey Logano, Toyota, 267, 64, 91, $116,626. 25. (27) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 267, 58.4, 88, $103,440.

26. (36) Paul Menard, Ford, 267, 50.6, 85, $101,031. 27. (2) Scott Speed, Toyota, 267, 51.7, 82, $84,898. 28. (32) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 267, 61.4, 79, $85,425. 29. (17) David Gilliland, Toyota, 267, 51, 76, $66,725. 30. (39) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 266, 39.1, 78, $78,100.

31. (19) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 266, 42.9, 70, $69,300. 32. (16) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 266, 40.8, 67, $69,075 33. (40) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 266, 31.9, 64, $78,325. 34. (41) David Ragan, Ford, 266, 47.9, 61, $73,675. 35. (3) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 251, 53.3, 63, $77,548.

36. (31) Erik Darnell, Ford, 247, 38.2, 55, $92,879. 37. (28) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 243, 29.7, 52, $65,050. 38. (23) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 235, 68.2, 49, $99,423. 39. (37) Robby Gordon, Toyota, 227, 40.5, 46, $83,410. 40. (42) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, accident, 116, 36.5, 43, $101,776.

41. (21) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, accident, 116, 29.4, 40, $72,215. 42. (43) Terry Labonte, Toyota, electrical, 88, 23.8, 37, $63,915. 43. (18) Michael McDowell, Toyota, overheating, 35, 27, 34, $64,229.

RACE STATISTICS

Average Speed of Race Winner: 126.986 mph. Time of Race: 3 hours, 6 minutes, 18 seconds. Margin of Victory: 2.632 seconds. Caution Flags: 7 for 31 laps.

Lap Leaders: J.Johnson 1-9; M.Ambrose 10-13; J.Johnson 14-32; T.Stewart 33-52; Ku.Busch 53-54; C.Bowyer 55; K.Harvick 56-62; T.Stewart 63-85; K.Harvick 86-134; Ku.Busch 135-157; D.Hamlin 158-180; Ku.Busch 181-195; D.Hamlin 196-198; J.Burton 199-217; Ku.Busch 218; M.Waltrip 219; Ku.Busch 220-221; Ky.Busch 222; D.Hamlin 223-267.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): D.Hamlin, 3 times for 71 laps; K.Harvick, 2 times for 56 laps; Ku.Busch, 5 times for 43 laps; T.Stewart, 2 times for 43 laps; J.Johnson, 2 times for 28 laps.

Top 12 in Points: 1. J.Johnson, 6,652; 2. M.Martin, 6,511; 3. J.Gordon, 6,473; 4. Ku.Busch, 6,446; 5. D.Hamlin, 6,335; 6. T.Stewart, 6,309; 7. G.Biffle, 6,292; 8. J.Montoya, 6,252; 9. R.Newman, 6,175; 10. K.Kahne, 6,128; 11. C.Edwards, 6,118; 12. B.Vickers, 5,929.