Johnson unaware car was illegal

NASCAR found that Johnson's car had an off-set anti-rollbar and additional adjuster bolt which raised the right side of his rear window, which could have led to a crucial aerodynamic advantage around the 2.5 mile Super Speedway.

Officials have barred Knaus from this year's Daytona 500 and he is also likely to face further bans which will be determined next week.

Johnson said he had no knowledge of the specific detail on the car, however said he relies on his team to push the grey envelopes of the sport as much as possible.

"As drivers we just get in and drive the cars," Johnson said. "I don't know the specifics of the car but my crew chief is going to work as hard as we can to work over all the grey areas but this time the template didn't fit. We accept what has happened.

"We crossed over the line. NASCAR has made the ruling we are going to live with and try and do the best we can. I just get in the car. I sleep well knowing that Chad is working his butt off to find an advantage. I imagine he'll come back more conservative. But we'll be back.

"All crew chiefs and engineers on all the race teams are trying to find an advantage, it's a deal where you have to massage the grey areas. It is our job to massage the grey areas and NASCAR just caught us out on it."

Johnson still believes however that he is capable of winning this weekend's prestigious race, despite the setback that will lead to Darian Grubb, the lead engineer for Johnson's teammate Jeff Gordon, calling the shots on the pitwall.

Johnson will also start his Gatorade Duel race from the back tomorrow.

"We are absolutely, 100 per cent capable of winning the Daytona 500," Johnson added. "It is an amazing team. Darian is going to be strong at taking the pressure of the crew chief.

"It's going to be easy to think the 48 is down and we really want to show that this is not going to keep us down."