Johnson held his position, then copied Kenseth again on a final round of pit stops. Kenseth was in fifth and Johnson was in sixth on the re-start with 16 laps to go, and it would take only a catastrophe at that point to deny Johnson the title.

But two late cautions — Montoya’s wreck, followed by good buddy Casey Mears blowing an engine — again prolonged the celebration.

Finally, the race was restarted for a two-lap shootout to the end.

“It was such a long day to get here,” he said in Victory Lane. “There were times when we were down and out, and in the back, and had to come back through. This just means the world to me, it’s the most amazing day of my life.”

Jeff Gordon, the four-time series champion who befriended Johnson and convinced car owner Rick Hendrick to give his new protege a ride, celebrated on the cool-down lap by bumping into the side of Johnson’s car.

“I don’t like to take much of the credit because Jimmie is a heck of a race car driver,” Gordon said. “Somebody was going to pick him up, and I’m just really thankful that the opportunity presented itself to us. I think he’ll be one of the best champions we’ve ever had because he cares so much about it.”

Knaus received a celebratory hug from Hendrick, who won his sixth championship as a car owner, and another from Ray Evernham, the championship crew chief turned rival car owner who taught Knaus much of what he knows.

“This team has really come into its own over the last year,” Knaus said. “I just couldn’t be prouder. We had to battle back from a lot of weird stuff this year, and they held strong.”

It started with the season-opening Daytona 500, when Knaus was caught cheating in race preparations. He was sent home and forced to watch Johnson win the biggest race of the season on TV. And he was still at home, finishing up his four-race suspension, when Johnson scored his dramatic win in Las Vegas.

They finally reunited in late March, but needed five more races to make it to Victory Lane together. They did it in Talladega, conquering a track that had tormented Johnson throughout his career and threatened to tarnish his squeaky-clean image with a series of Johnson-caused accidents.

Then they won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August, giving Johnson same-season victories at NASCAR’s two historic venues. It automatically made Johnson the favorite to win the title: Five of the past eight Brickyard champions parlayed their wins into a championship.

Now it’s six of nine.

Hamlin finished third in the final Chase standings and was followed by Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Gordon was sixth, Jeff Burton was seventh and Kahne, Mark Martin and Kyle Busch completed the Chase field.

Reigning champion Tony Stewart, who failed to make the Chase but won three of its races, finished 15th Sunday and finished 11th in the standings to earn the $1 million payout.

Johnson earned $6.2 million in race winnings, but his payday doesn’t end there — the final prize money is announced Dec. 1 at NASCAR’s end-of-year banquet in New York City. Last year, Stewart totaled more than $13 million for his title.

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