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HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Jimmie Johnson had the commemorative helmet and a photographer chronicling his every move. He even ran a symbolic 7 miles the night before his shot at a seventh championship.He must have known something special was coming.Johnson was the dog of the championship contenders in a winner-take-all season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He needed only to beat three other drivers to tie Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt as drivers with seven titles, but he was the worst of the final four for all but one lap Sunday night.Johnson was practically gifted his seventh title when Carl Edwards aggressive attempt to win the championship ended in a wreck that opened the door. Johnson got the restart of his life in overtime, took the lead on the last lap of the race, won for the first time in his career at Homestead and grabbed that elusive seventh title.I had this crazy calmness over myself all day long leading into this, Johnson said. Even with us running fifth and the championship looking like its not going to be there, I just felt something.Most of the race was spent talking about backflips, repeats or a Penske sweep because Johnson just wasnt as good as contenders Edwards, reigning series champion Kyle Busch or Joey Logano.Then all that conversation took a backseat to a record-setting -- albeit improbable -- championship run. The win was the 15th for Hendrick Motorsports and seventh for crew chief Chad Knaus, who now trails only Dale Inmans record eight.Johnsons No. 48 Chevrolet was seized by NASCAR shortly before the race for a last-minute trip through inspection, setting Johnson up for a mind-boggling race in which he never seemed to be a legitimate contender. He had to start last because of the inspection issue and was the worst of the final four, and he had no shot until Edwards coughed away the title.Petty welcomed Johnson to the VIP section of NASCARs most exclusive club.They set a goal to get where they are, and circumstances and fate made it a reality, Petty said. Jimmie is a great champion and this is really good for our sport.He was also feted by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., who represented his late father in Victory Lane.I told Jimmie I wish Dad was here to shake his hand, Earnhardt said. Dad would think hes such a badass. Hes such a great race car driver. How he won this thing tonight, I dont think a lot of people know, he can will himself to get [his all] out of a car when it matters. Theres a lot of circumstance that played into it, but he put himself in that position.Edwards was in position to win until a caution with 10 laps remaining set up a wild sequence that ruined his title hopes. Edwards tried to block Logano on the restart, wound up wrecked, and it was Johnson who drove through the carnage to take the championship lead.Johnson withstood two more restarts, and dedicated the final two attempts at the win to the late Ricky Hendrick, who was one of 10 friends and family members killed in a 2004 plane crash.My heart was full because I was thinking of some loved ones like Ricky Hendrick and his influence, he said. Something happened from above.Johnson drove the entire 10-race Chase with a tribute helmet to Earnhardt and Petty, the Hall of Fame drivers hes been chasing since he won his sixth title in 2013. Immediately after the race, he gifted the helmet to three-time champion Tony Stewart, who retired at the end of the race.Drivers have been giving Stewart special helmets the past month, but Johnson had earmarked this one for the driver forever known as Smoke.I promised him Id give him a helmet; I wanted to wait and see if I could give him this one, Johnson said. He doesnt really want it. He said if I want it back, I can have it back, but I promised Id give him a helmet.The title was there for the taking for Edwards until the fateful sequence that changed history.He was leading when Dylan Lupton brought out a caution with 15 laps remaining, and it forced Edwards to hold off the competition on a restart with 10 to go.Logano, so masterful on restarts for two years now, tried to dart around Edwards on the bottom. Edwards refused to yield and tried to fend off the move by blocking Logano low. Contact between the two sent Edwards hard into an interior wall, then all the way across the track for a second hit. He had been the most dominant driver of the Chase contenders but was left with a wrecked car.He came down right in front of me, Logano said on his radio.Edwards stood on the track and watched the replay of the accident, and appeared to mutter damn, hands on hips, before he began a long walk to pit road. Once there, he stopped at Loganos pit box before continuing a journey on foot through the infield to make the mandatory stop at the care center.He acknowledged he was aggressive protecting his position from Logano.I was racing for my life up to that point, he said. I just pushed the issue as hard as I could because I figured that was the race there. I had to push it -- I couldnt go to bed tonight and think that I gave him that lane.The beneficiary of Edwards error, though, was Johnson, who had darted through the wreck ahead of Busch and Logano. Knaus pumped his fists in joy, all too aware that they were suddenly in the game.Thats what makes a seven-time champion -- someone that fights and battles and digs and never gives up, said four-time champion Jeff Gordon, the teammate who discovered Johnson for Hendrick Motorsports. They keep themselves in position and allowed some of those unfortunate instances to work in their favor. You can say luck, whatever you want to say, but those guys battled. They battled hard.Logano wasnt giving up his effort, though, and headed to pit road to take on new tires for a final restart.This guy on a restart with five laps to go, Ill take him every day of the week, crew chief Todd Gordon said.Logano restarted eighth but was a bull as he pushed his way through traffic and into third place, behind Johnson, after a caution forced another restart.This time, Johnson got the start of his life and jumped into the lead. He didnt look back, only forward at his slice of NASCAR history.They were nowhere all day, and just kind of ran around, I dont know, probably, Id guess sixth, said Busch, who ended up sixth. Never really showed their hand at all and didnt really show any speed, never really led in the laps until the last one, and thats the only one that really matters. Cheap Air Max 2019 China . 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CHICAGO -- From the jubilant parade all the way to the boisterous rally, millions of excited fans spent a sun-drenched Friday celebrating another Stanley Cup title for the Chicago Blackhawks. Dressed mostly in red and black, they came out to say thanks for the memories. Turns out, captain Jonathan Toews and Co. wanted to return the favour. "This shows how unbelievable this city is," Toews said, addressing the rapt crowd at Grant Park. "Unbelievable. Thank you." The Blackhawks rode to the rally in red, open-topped buses, passing waving and screaming fans of every age as the parade travelled from the United Center to the downtown party. Toews hoisted the Stanley Cup over his head to show it off to the crowd, which was cooled by large water misters placed along the route with temperatures in the low 80s. One of the many signs read "Thank you, guys" on the top line and "Best 17 seconds of my life" for the second part -- referring to the pair of late goals that lifted the Blackhawks to a 3-2 title-clinching victory over the Boston Bruins on Monday night. And there was at least one expression of love for Andrew Shaw, the hardscrabble forward who required stitches on his face after he was hit by a puck Monday. It was the second championship in four seasons for the Blackhawks, and authorities thought Fridays crowd was even heartier than the 2 million that came out in 2010. "What do you say we get back here and do it again next year?" forward Patrick Sharp said to a big cheer at the rally. The Grant Park crowd also enjoyed a brief but colorful speech by normally reserved goaltender Corey Crawford, who drew wide grins and chuckles from his teammates. "Its tough to follow that speech by Corey Crawford," Toews said after he carried the Cup onto the stage. Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said 42 people were taken to hospitals with heat-related health problems. He also said 20 people jumped into a restricted part of Lake Michigan and the fire department made sure that all 20 came out of the water. The massive crowd at thhe park grew steadily all morning long, with the most ardent supporters camping out overnight, ready to sprint to the big stage the minute police swung the barriers aside.dddddddddddd By the time buses delivered the players and their families, the park was packed. Some fans brought along homemade versions of the Stanley Cup, including one fashioned from an empty beer keg. Twenty-somethings Courtney Baldwin and Meghan OKane, from the citys suburbs, slapped together their tribute from a jumble of jugs and plastic bowls painted grey. It was empty Friday morning, but Baldwin said they planned to fill it with an adult beverage in the afternoon -- a common occurrence for the actual silver trophy over the past week. One fan who dashed to the front near the stage was Michael Wilczynski, a 26-year-old sales associate from the suburbs. His father took him to his first game and they partied together downtown after the last Stanley Cup victory. "My dad died in February. We came to 2010. Im not going to miss this. I had to be here," he said. The Blackhawks gave the city something to celebrate as the Cubs and White Sox grind through another lost summer. And fans took note. "We love the Blackhawks. This is history and this is a championship, unlike the Cubs," OKane said, taking a shot at a team that hasnt won a World Series since 1908. The franchises fifth Stanley Cup was the culmination of a banner season for the Blackhawks, who set an NHL record when they recorded at least one point in the first 24 games -- half of the lockout-shortened schedule. They finished with the best record in the league. The dramatic Game 6 victory in Boston sparked a raucous party in parts of Chicago. Fans poured out of bars after the thrilling finish and celebrated in the streets in the several neighbourhoods. Sarah Schmidt, 22, who grew up in Chicago and made the pilgrimage to Fridays celebrations from Milwaukee, told her boss she was taking the day off no matter what. She hoped her bartending gig would still be there when the party was over. "I cant miss this," she said. ' ' '