Daytona Beach, Fla. ? Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart were surrounded by controversy throughout the buildup to the Daytona 500 – Johnson for his team’s latest cheating scandal and Stewart for speaking his mind.

So it was perfectly fitting the two found themselves in the thick of things again Sunday.

Johnson roared past teammate Brian Vickers with 14 laps remaining and hung on to win stock-car racing’s most prestigious race for the first time, a milestone he celebrated without a hug from suspended crew chief Chad Knaus. Instead, they spoke briefly by cell phone.

“After all the trouble this team has been through and all the criticism, I’m dedicating this to the haters of the 48 team,” Johnson said. “We won, and we’re in Victory Lane.”

Stewart, the defending Nextel Cup champion, had the fastest car and led 20 laps. But separate crashes with Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth – and a penalty for aggressive driving – cost Stewart any shot of winning.

Knaus was ejected from Daytona International Speedway for making an illegal modification to the car during qualifying, his second penalty for cheating in two years.

Johnson said he did not feel the victory was in any way tainted by the illegal rear window NASCAR uncovered while inspecting the No. 48 Chevrolet last week.

“Was (Knaus) really home,” Ryan Newman, the third-place finisher, said with a smirk. “Do we all know that or not?”

“I think a lot of Jimmie Johnson and his talent, but I’m pretty sure at least three out of his last four wins have had (conflicts) with the cars being illegal,” Newman added. “It’s not necessarily good for the sport.”

After Jamie McMurray crashed on the 197th of 200 laps, the race sped toward a wild overtime finish.

Johnson faced challenges from Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was the first to pull out of line for a run. But no one went with him, and the No. 8 car was shuffled to the back of the lead pack. He finished eighth. Casey Mears slipped past Newman in the No. 42 Dodge to claim second.