Jimmie Johnson on Early Daytona 500 Exit: I'm Pretty Bummed

You couldn’t ask for a worse start to the new season.

Jimmie Johnson barely completed one lap of The Great American Race before getting involved in a wreck that destroyed his car and his night.

The worst part is that it wasn’t even his fault.

Elliot Sadler bumped Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet into a wall and multiple other drivers got caught up in the wreckage, including Danica Patrick, Kurt Busch, David Ragan and Trevor Bayne.

After the race Johnson was understandably very upset. Johnson told the AP:

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"I'm just really, really bummed to start the season this way. For all the hard work that has gone into getting ... ready for tonight; we didn't get to complete two-and-a-half miles of green-flag racing. So, I'm pretty bummed."

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Poor results at Daytona are becoming a disturbing trend for Johnson. The five-time Sprint Cup champion has finished 39th, 27th, 31st, 35th and 27th since winning the event in 2006.

That’s not good.

Now, his Hendrick Motorsports squad has to quickly re-group after a horrible stay in the Sunshine State. Johnson’s car failed initial inspections during Speedweeks and his crew chief Chad Knaus will be penalized due to an illegally altered sheet metal near the roof and side windows, better known as the C-posts.

Knaus has already been suspended twice for violations. Last time, he was suspended for six weeks. This time around, it will likely be even longer.

Johnson is coming off a sixth-place finish in last year’s standings, which would be great for almost every racer except Johnson.

His reign as the dominate force in the sport ended, and this year's Daytona 500 was supposed to be the race to reaffirm his supremacy. Now there are far more questions than answers.

Sure it’s only one race, but the start to the season has been an absolute disaster for Johnson and his team.