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Johnson wins amid swirl of controversy

Jimmie Johnson, driver of Lowe's Chevrolet, right, passes Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of Budweiser Chevrolet, in turn four in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Sunday. PHOTO: AFP

Jimmie Johnson won a two-lap sprint on Sunday to claim his first Daytona 500 victory, winning American stock car racing's premier event six days after his pit crew chief was suspended.

Johnson had a strong car when he arrived at Daytona International Speedway 10 days ago, and posted the fifth-fastest time in time trials. But when the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) inspected his car, officials discovered that crew chief Chad Knaus had made an illegal modification.

Knaus was barred from the event, seemingly spoiling Johnson's shot to win The Great American Race.

Just moments after Johnson crossed the finish line, his rivals were wondering if the win was legitimate.

"This could still be the first opportunity for NASCAR to pull away a victory if the thing is illegal," third-place finisher Ryan Newman said. "It's disappointing. I think a lot of Jimmie Johnson and his talent, but I'm pretty sure at least three of his last four wins have had conflictions with the cars being illegal.

"You know, it's not necessarily good for the sport."

But, Johnson avoided trouble in a wild race that saw Tony Stewart eliminate three contenders: Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and himself. Then Johnson worked his way to the front, staying in line and waiting for his opportunity.

It came with 14 laps to go when he squeezed past teammate Brian Vickers to grab the lead just as race officials slowed the field for a caution period because of a crash. Johnson was at the front of the field on the restart, and stayed there to the end -- including one final restart after Jamie McMurray wrecked with seven laps to go to bring out one final caution.

It set up a final dash, but no one was able to challenge him.

"I knew deep down inside my heart that this team could still win this race," Johnson said in Victory Lane. "There's no doubt that not having Chad here was a huge handicap, but everybody stepped up. I am just so proud of this team."

Casey Mears, part of the three-man team that won the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race earlier this month, was second with Newman, who was trying to give Roger Penske his first Daytona win in 33 tries, just behind.

Stewart was fifth, rookie Clint Bowyer was sixth and Brian Vickers was seventh. Dale Earnhardt Jr. wound up eighth after leading a race-high 32 laps. Ken Schrader and Dale Jarrett rounded out the top 10.

Earlier this week, Stewart forced NASCAR to crack down on bump drafting and aggressive driving when he warned that someone could be killed in the 500.

Then he became the first driver in the premier Nextel Cup series to be penalized under the new policy.

He began his day by hitting Gordon -- a heavy favorite to win a second straight 500 -- early in the race to eliminate him from contention. Then Stewart took out a second potential winner when he made a hard left turn into Kenseth.

Stewart's contact severely damaged Kenseth's car and NASCAR quickly penalized Stewart by ordering him to the back of the field.
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