NASCAR season kicks off with The Clash, victory for Joey Logano

The 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series kicks off on Sunday with The Clash at Daytona, the annual exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway. Initially, the race was scheduled for Saturday but it was delayed due to rain.

Team Penske’s Joey Logano has won his first Clash after a thrilling finish in which leaders Brad Keselowski (pole sitter) and Denny Hamlin (led 48 of 75 laps) collided on the last lap.

Logano took the lead and won the race, bringing the first Clash win for Ford since 2004. Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Danica Patrick and Kevin Harvick completed Top 5.

The season-opening Daytona Speedweeks will continue with Can-Am Duel races on Thursday, February 23. The 59th running of Daytona 500 will follow on Sunday, February 26. On Friday and Saturday, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series will start their respective seasons with Daytona races.

Photos: NASCAR/Getty Images,