2019 Advance Auto Parts Clash

The 2019 Advance Auto Parts Clash was the 42nd edition of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on February 10, 2019, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The first exhibition race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, it was scheduled to be contested over 75 laps but was reduced to 59 laps due to rain.

14 years after his previous victory in the race, Jimmie Johnson won the Clash after moving into the race lead following contact with Paul Menard, which resulted in the majority of the field being involved in the subsequent crash.

The track, Daytona International Speedway, is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway, and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that measures 2.5 miles (4.0 kilometres) The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.

The race was scheduled for 75 laps in length, and was divided into segments of 25 laps and 50 laps.

The 2019 Clash at Daytona was not a predetermined number of cars; rather, the field was limited to drivers who met more exclusive criteria. Only drivers who were 2018 Pole Award winners, former Clash race winners, former Daytona 500 champions, former Daytona 500 pole winners who competed full-time in 2018 and drivers who qualified for the 2018 NASCAR playoffs were eligible.^[3]

Joey Logano was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 45.735 seconds and a speed of 196.786 mph (316.696 km/h).^[9]

The lineup was determined by random draw, with Paul Menard drawing the top spot.

Prior to the start, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin, both of whom were involved in practice incidents, were sent to the rear for backup cars.^[10] Kyle Busch, who started from the front row, led the first lap before pole-sitter Paul Menard returned to the lead, with Team Penske's Brad Keselowski pushing Menard's Wood Brothers Racing car to the front – the duo working together as their teams formed part of a technical alliance. Menard maintained the lead, either side of a 21-minute red flag on lap 8 for rain, until lap 25 when the majority of the field pitted prior to the scheduled competition caution. Five drivers – Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. – did not pit immediately and led the field at the caution, before pitting under the neutralized conditions.

Menard retook the lead for the restart on lap 33, but a second rain shower hit the track on lap 40, causing another red-flag stoppage of around 8 minutes. The race restarted on lap 48, but teams were warned of a longer rain cell that could end the race at any time, leading to a more aggressive race in the final laps, knowing that the race could end at any time. With the weather, the fairly single-file high side racing moved to two-lane racing. On lap 56, and following a well-timed push from Chip Ganassi Racing's Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson was able to pull up aside Menard heading towards turn 3; Menard attempted to block Johnson's "side draft" maneuver, but the two cars made contact.^[11] With the field bunched, a massive pileup ensued, with only 3 of the 20 starting cars not being involved in some form.^[11] While under caution, further heavier rain hit the track, causing a further red flag period which ultimately resulted in the race being called – Johnson was declared the winner ahead of Kurt Busch and Joey Logano.^[11]

FS1 covered the race on the television side; Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Jeff Gordon handled the call from the broadcast booth, while Vince Welch and Matt Yocum reported from pit road.