DAYTONA BEACH, Fla – Paul Menard was extremely upset with how the end of last Sunday’s Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona ended. See, Menard led all but five laps in the closing stages and looked like he was the one to beat in his No. 21 Ford.

Unfortunately, on Lap 55 of the rain shortened event, he and Jimmie Johnson made contact on the backstretch. Menard, was crashed out while Johnson continued on. Rain would fall right after ending the race under caution.

If the contact doesn’t happen, Menard is the winner.

That’s why he so was upset. He blamed Johnson and made a comment that Johnson is always good for causing an incident like that one on restrictor plate tracks.

Johnson though, blamed the product of restrictor plate racing for the crash and said that Menard kind of came down on him too. He did say he hates to win a race that way and would reach out to Menard.

On Wednesday, both confirmed that they have spoke and that the air has been cleared.

“It is what it is,” Menard said during the Daytona 500 Media Day. “I felt like I was holding the wheel as good as I could and I thought being up front was probably a pretty safe place. Jimmie (Johnson) did what he did to try to win. It was not intentional. Maybe I moved down a little bit, I don’t know. There was no room for error and two cars collided.

“What’s done is done. We’re not looking in the rearview mirror on that one. Just moving on.”

Johnson, said that It was great to talk with him and that Menard knows after their chat that it wasn’t on purpose.

“Looking back, I could have given him a few more inches,” said Johnson. “That way when he came down, there was a bit more margin for error between us.

“There’s always lessons to learn, going back on the tape and talking to someone about those things. I think where he and I stand, sure he wasn’t happy after the race with that, but he knew that wasn’t intentional and it was more of a racing thing than anything.”