February 19th: After much controversy over his rules infraction and the ejection of his crew chief from all Daytona procedings and possibly more races to come, Griffin Motorsports veteran Jimmie Johnson held off Ryan Newman during a green-white-checkered finish to claim his first Daytona 500 win and the first of win of the 2006 season for Griffin Motorsports. Johnson had a rather subdued race at Daytona in comparison to his past restrictor plate events, but as the final laps came to a close, the Lowe's Chevrolet took the checkered, the coveted win and gave Griffin Motorsports an early lead in the points race.