Hendrick’s 1-2-3 finish would make history

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — For Hendrick Motorsports, this NASCAR season might seem easy as 1-2-3.

OK, maybe it only looked easy.

No matter if Jimmie Johnson or Mark Martin leaves Homestead-Miami on Sunday with the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, Hendrick Motorsports — which owns both cars — will have plenty to celebrate. The title, whomever delivers it, will be Rick Hendrick’s ninth in NASCAR, tying him with Petty Enterprises for the most. And it will be his record-setting 12th overall, joining three truck titles.

But there’s a piece of history still out there for Hendrick to chase.

Johnson, Martin and Jeff Gordon, all of whom race under the Hendrick flag, enter the finale 1-2-3 in the standings. If they finish in those spots, Hendrick Motorsports would become the first team in NASCAR history to truly pull off that feat.

“I hate to be greedy when you think about really wanting to be 1-2-3, but we’re sitting there right now with one race to go,” Hendrick said. “That would be so good for the organization. If it happens, it’ll be just icing on the cake. We’ve all thought about it. We’ve all talked about it. That’s our goal.”

Has it happened before?

Depends on perspective, really.

Buck Baker, Herb Thomas and Speedy Thompson finished in the top three spots in the 1956 standings after a 56-race schedule. Baker and Thompson both raced for Carl Kiekhaefer, as did Thomas for much of that season. But NASCAR records show Thomas started that season listed as his car’s owner-driver, plus also spent some time that year with Smokey Yunick as his team owner.

So technically, if Hendrick pulls this off Sunday, he would stand alone.

The results, especially of late, show that whatever is going on in the Hendrick garage tops what everyone else is doing.

At 50, Martin is having what he calls the happiest season of his life. Gordon will likely finish fourth or better in the final standings for the 10th time. And Johnson is on the brink of history, needing only a 25th-place finish to clinch his fourth straight title, breaking the record he shares with Cale Yarborough.

Hendrick’s cap will be turned backward in Victory Lane on Sunday, a tribute to his son Ricky, one of 10 people killed when a Hendrick plane crashed in 2004.