Post-race fireworks feature Stewart, Johnson
nascar.com
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The emotions of the Daytona 500 spilled into the Daytona International Speedway garage area early Sunday evening as Chad Knaus angrily confronted Tony Stewart after Knaus' driver, Jimmie Johnson, and Stewart banged together after the checkered flag waved.
Knaus shouted obscenities at Stewart as Stewart walked to his hauler. Crewmen tried to separate the two, but Knaus kept coming at Stewart.
No blows were exchanged, and each went to his hauler.
NASCAR later called all parties to its trailer to talk about the incident, and Stewart and Johnson came out together to meet with the media, each wearing wide smiles.
A few feet away, Knaus and Stewart's general manager at Joe Gibbs Racing, Jimmy Makar, were politely talking.
"Just like the drivers, when they go out there and get all worked up and emotions run high, the same thing happens for the crews and the crew chiefs," Knaus said. "I was a little upset about what happened after the race.
"It's no big deal. I went down there and had a talk with him. It's all square."
Stewart and Johnson also took a conciliatory tone.
"It was fine," Stewart said. "You're racing on the last lap of the Daytona 500.
"I was mad he pinched me in there at the end. We went down there, we both bumped into each other, we both did the same thing to each other.
"It's fine. We both had good weeks here, we both finished in the top 10. He finished fifth, I finished seventh. We're both leaving here in a good situation in the points."
Stewart had joked that he and Johnson were "trading cookie secrets."
"NASCAR was kind of joking about it inside the trailer, saying they wanted to make sure there wasn't anything to start off the season," Johnson said. "If there was, we want to squash it now. As Tony mentioned, there's nothing. Just hard racing.
"We both were coming to the finish line doing all we can. There's been a lot more media attention than this thing ever needed. Let's go home. I'll lead the way."
The drivers and crew chiefs weren't exactly smiling a few minutes earlier. Stewart had led seven times for 107 laps and held the lead as late as four laps to go before being overtaken by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and eventual winner Jeff Gordon.
Trying to rally back to the front, Stewart tried to pass Johnson on the outside in Turn 4, but Johnson blocked all the way to the wall. After the checkered flag, the two drivers bumped into each other.
"We were all trying to block and do what we can," Johnson said before the meeting in the NASCAR hauler. "Evidently he was upset with me blocking him like you're supposed to. He kept running me in the outside wall down in Turn 1.
"I just tried saving my car, and we bounced off each other a few times. There is no retaliation. We were wheel-to-wheel and it almost spun me out and I ran back into him. It was one of those deals. I'm sure he's upset. He led a lot today and didn't win the race."
Stewart was clearly disappointed he didn't win the Daytona 500, but Knaus may have been more upset.
"I think he was upset about me running into his driver after the race," Stewart said. "I think his driver did enough running into us before we got to the checkered flag. Chad's just upset. I don't know what Chad is upset about. That's just Chad I guess. If he wants to talk about it, I'm easily accessible."
They did, and apparently all is well.
"More than anything, NASCAR wanted to just make sure it wasn't something that was going to linger overnight," Stewart said. "It's like I told Jimmie: We both are really, really good friends. This isn't even something that's going to linger tonight. It's over with."
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