Johnson wins Clash after crash

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Jimmie Johnson’s youngest daughter prays every night for daddy to win a race. When Johnson scuffled through the worst season of his career, he felt the strain of not reaching victory lane.

“It was putting some pressure on me,” Johnson said. Johnson called the invocation “cute to hear.”

He didn’t feel the same about critical comments saying Johnson was past his prime. The 43-year-old Johnson tweeted “I’m far from done” in the offseason, and with a risky move in the rain, he showed there’s plenty left.

Johnson triggered a wreck that wiped out nearly the entire 20-car field at Daytona and zipped to the lead to win the rainshortened exhibition Clash on Sunday.

The seven-time Cup Series champion failed to win a race for the first time in his career in 2018, but a dose of aggression put him back in victory lane during the opening weekend of Speedweeks. Johnson’s win capped a banner day for Hendrick Motorsports: teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman locked in the front row for the Daytona 500 earlier in the day in qualifying.

“It’s been a pretty awesome day,” Hendrick said. “I hate we had the wreck there at the end, but it’s been a really good day for the team.”

The celebration at Daytona comes with a caveat: the last Daytona 500 pole-sitter to win the race was Dale Jarrett in 2000, and Johnson’s victory doesn’t count in the official NASCAR record book.

Paul Menard led 51 laps and controlled the race interrupted three times for rain. With more rain looming, Johnson dipped low and tried to side-draft Menard as they battled for the lead. But Johnson turned Menard and started a chain-reaction accident that left cars sideways and smoking behind the No. 48 Chevrolet.