Jimmie Johnson wins rain-shortened Advance Auto Parts Clash

Jimmie Johnson won Sunday’s Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona International Speedway as inclement weather cut short the 75-lap exhibition.

Johnson took the lead from pole-sitter Paul Menard just before the two collided and set off a massive wreck that brought out the caution on Lap 55.

MORE: Unofficial results

For Johnson it was his second victory in “The Clash” and capped a dominant day for Hendrick Motorsports, which won the Daytona 500 Busch Pole Award with William Byron and had all four of its drivers finish 1-4 in qualifying.

Team owner Rick Hendrick is very happy with the way today went for his team, especially with it being the first time competing on-track since a crew chief shake-up among the Hendrick Motorsports organization.

“It’s been a pretty awesome day.  You know, it’s just unbelievable to have the four cars qualify like that, and then to have Jimmie win the Clash, I think in his seven times, that’s the first time he’s finished in seven years, so that’s ‑‑ and it feels good,” he said.

“It feels good to see Kevin (Meendering) and Jimmie have success today, and it feels good to see William (Byron) and Chad (Knaus).  It’s been a good day for the organization.  I hate we had the wreck there at the end, but it’s been a really good day for our team.”

Menard was trying to become the first Wood Brothers Racing driver to win “The Clash,” and he led 52 of the first 56 laps and rode a dominant car on the preferred outside line. But the side-draft move by Johnson sent Menard spinning toward the wall and out of contention.

“Jimmie does that a lot at these tracks, so that’s unfortunate,” Menard told FS1. “Aggressive side-drafting caused that wreck.”

RELATED: Full Daytona Speedweeks schedule

Kurt Busch finished second in his debut with Chip Ganassi Racing, with defending series champion Joey Logano (Team Penske), Ryan Blaney (Team Penske) and Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports) completing the top five.

This story will be updated.

The post Jimmie Johnson wins rain-shortened Advance Auto Parts Clash appeared first on Official Site Of NASCAR.

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