Driver Mark Martin speaks during the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series awards banquet during the final day of Champions Week. (Photo: Getty Images)

Johnson teammate Mark Martin delivered a speech that he had done before – he has finished second in the standings five times in his career – but one with an incredible amount of passion.

“Jimmie Johnson – man you sure know how to steal a guy’s thunder, don’t you?” Martin said with a laugh. “Congratulations, man. You really work hard at it and you are so incredible. You are going to get the credit you deserve one day.”

A few drivers gave Johnson and Knaus the utmost credit – Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Newman told Johnson: “Jimmie, congratulations. Chad, Rick Hendrick, all you guys, awesome job – hope you enjoy your retirement” and even others chimed in that maybe Johnson should just hang it up.

“I’ll be willing to give my half [of my team] as a little bit of a donation to get Jimmie to retire or at least take a vacation for five or 10 years,” said Tony Stewart, the 2002 and 2005 champion. “Let it be known that I am the last guy not named Jimmie Johnson to sit at the head table. That’s something to be proud of.”

Johnson captured four of his season-best seven wins during the 10-race Chase For The Sprint Cup.

“I’ve been here for three years and you keep kicking our butt,” said Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s Juan Pablo Montoya, who left Formula One to go stock-car racing. “It’s great to see you here, but it [stinks]. … What you have done every year is freaking incredible. Honestly, it’s amazing.”

Like Montoya, some drivers have only attended a banquet where Johnson won the title.

“First, I’ve got to acknowledge people at the front table and luckily for me, I have notes compiled from ’06, ’07, ’08,” Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin said.