#48-Jimmie Johnson managed to win his first Chase championship in 2006 by scoring 1430 points, the lowest winning total in the five-year history of the Chase. Since then, he has rung up 1663 points (1643 if you adjust for the 5-point increase rule in 2007) in 2007 and 1644 (1629) to win the 08 title. Here are the champion chase points scored and runnerup for the first five years of the Chase: 2004: 1st-Kurt Busch 1486, 2nd-Jimmie Johnson 1453 2005: 1st-Tony Stewart 1483, 2nd-Greg Biffle 1453, 3rd–Carl Edwards 1483 2006: 1st-Jimmie Johnson 1430, 2nd-Matt Kenseth 1369, 3rd-Denny Hamlin 1377 2007: 1st-Jimmie Johnson 1663, 2nd-Jeff Gordon 1606 2008: 1st-Jimmie Johnson 1644, 2nd-Carl Edwards 1560 Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr get to pass on banquet week, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch made the top-10 and the trip to NYC. Brian Vickers gets the top spot by improving 19 positions from 2007, finishing in 19th this season. David Reutimann gained 17 spots and boss/teammate Michael Waltrip improved 15 positions in 08. Kurt Busch suffered the largest decline in 08, dropping 11 spots from 7th to 18th this season. Reed Sorenson was next, falling 10 spots to 32nd. See full 2008 Chase Stats page and my 2008 Chase News, Rules, Wins, History page for more.(11-19-2008)
