CORAL GABLES, Fla. — 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 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.

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 Thursday. "That would be so good for the organization. If it happens, it'll be just icing on the cake. ... 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.

"I'm actually living a dream," Hendrick said. "I grew up and all I knew was racing and cars and working on cars. You didn't get paid to do it. You did it because you loved it and you take whatever you made to do it. So to be able to look back and see what we've been able to accomplish, I've just been really fortunate being around a lot of great people."