Hendrick looks to turn terrific trio into fantastic foursome

The 2009 season couldn't have gone much better for Hendrick Motorsports. Jimmie Johnson's record fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship gave team owner Rick Hendrick a ninth career Cup trophy for his mantle.

Mark Martin's and Jeff Gordon's second- and third-place finishes behind Johnson made Hendrick the first team in the sport's history to sweep the top three spots in the final standings.

Jimmie Johnson again dominated the Chase in 2009. (Getty Images)

"It starts with Rick and his vision and what he has given us all to work with in his 25 years in the sport," Johnson said. "He's just done an amazing job. I'm happy to make him happy, I'm happy to make him smile."

Hendrick is quick to point out that people like Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus and everyone who works behind the scenes at the organization are the ones who deserve all the credit for making the team such a success.

"I think our people are the biggest asset," Hendrick said. "If you can keep it together and tweak it, it's much better off than tearing it down and rebuilding it every year. It slows you down."

There was no slowing down Johnson, who is driving his way into the NASCAR record book.

Johnson led the Sprint Cup Series with seven victories, 16 top five finishes, 2,238 laps led and 190 bonus points and was second in top 10s with 24. He eventually won the title by 141 points over Martin on the strength of another solid performance during the 10-race Chase schedule, when he won four times.

He won his fourth crown in only eight full seasons in NASCAR's top division.

"I am just blown away by the things we've been able to accomplish over the last eight years in the sport," Johnson said. "Obviously the last four years have been just unbelievable. To love the sport like I do and respect it like I do, and the history, the pioneers of this sport from Bill France Sr., to the Petty family, you go through many eras up to Mr. Hendrick and what he's done over the last 25, to look at all of that and to have done something that's never been done in the sport before is so, so amazing and something I am so proud of. I've always set my marks high and really wanted to try to set high marks and all those kinds of things, but I had no clue this stuff would happen. Just so honored, so happy, so fortunate."

Despite missing out on winning an elusive title, Martin also considered himself fortunate after his first year with Hendrick. The veteran driver won five times and was in the championship hunt all season before coming up short running down Johnson during the Chase.

"There's no frustration, man. ... I know y'all would love it, but there's no frustration," Martin said. "There's none. I'm very proud of what we accomplished. I'm very proud of what we accomplished, and on top of all that, I had more fun than anybody. So how could you -- what else can you say, man? I had a blast. It has been an honor and a privilege, and I didn't leave nothing. I never left anything anywhere. We got beat, and we got beat under any scenario that might have happened. I didn't leave anything out there. My race team dug as hard as they could dig, and we accomplished more than anybody else in the garage this year except for the 48. That ought to be enough to make you proud."

Long-time Gordon fans had to be proud of their driver's effort in 2009 as well, with the four-time series champion bouncing back from a lackluster performance the previous season.

He finished the year with 16 top fives and 25 top 10s, including a series-high eight second-place finishes and a victory at Texas in April.

But Gordon knows there's a lot of work to do to close the gap between the 24 team and Johnson.

"We had a very good year, no doubt about it, but we're pretty realistic: It wasn't enough," said Gordon, who ended a 47-race winless streak last season. "Obviously, [that's] why we're third. It was a big step up from last season, and I'm very proud of that. I feel like our efforts and the direction that those efforts went into were very beneficial, but they weren't enough."

No matter what efforts were put behind getting Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 team back on track, they weren't enough.

Earnhardt suffered through one of the most disappointing seasons of his Cup career, and even a much-publicized crew chief change in which cousin Tony Eury Jr. ousted in favor of Lance McGrew didn't turn around Junior's fortunes.

Earnhardt finished 25th in the final standings with two top fives and five top 10s, but only two of those top 10s came in his 24 starts with McGrew on the pit box.

"Hopefully, next year will be better," a dejected Earnhardt said. "I want to keep racing because I think we need more racing. We're not good as a team yet. We need to race more. We don't need to say, 'All right, let's get this year over with and get ready for next year.' ... We have to try during the offseason to fix what we can without being able to go to the racetrack and seeing if that's working. Hopefully, when we show up at Daytona, we've made the right calls."

Season preview

Hendrick said the offseason would be dedicated to finding a way to make Earnhardt and the No. 88 team more competitive in 2010. While McGrew will be back as crew chief, the team will be more closely aligned with the Hendrick No. 5 entry to share information and resources.

While the jury is still out on whether Earnhardt can again compete for wins and qualify for the Chase, there's no reason to believe his other three teammates will slow down.

Johnson is again the class of the Sprint Cup field and will certainly contend for a fifth consecutive title. There have been no major changes within the 48 team, which will return intact to try to extend its record streak.

Martin signed on for two more years behind the wheel of the No. 5 Chevrolet, which will sport new sponsorship colors in GoDaddy.com. With crew chief Alan Gustafson back on top of the pit box, Martin will again try to end his career with a Cup title.

Gordon now finds himself in competition with Johnson in the "Drive for Five" Cup crowns. After his turnaround season of 2009, Gordon and crew chief Steve Letarte should have enough confidence and momentum to challenge Johnson for wins and the title.

Hendrick Motorsports is on top of the NASCAR mountain, and there isn't another team in the garage area that can match this powerhouse in resources and talent, which makes the organization a solid favorite to hoist another championship trophy in 2010.