DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Four-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson wants nothing to do with Sam Hornish Jr.

It might even be too late for Hornish to apologize for what happened at Texas Motor Speedway in November.

Asked at Daytona 500 media day which driver he would least want to learn from, Johnson made it clear he is still fuming that Hornish never apologized for the accident that could have cost Johnson his latest championship.

“

I have a hard time talking to people when they want to talk to me, being as shy as I am, but talking to someone who wants to beat me up, that's another story.

”

--SAM HORNISH JR

"He hits way too much stuff, including me at important times of the year," Johnson said, making an uncharacteristically blunt assessment of a fellow driver. "Still to this day, he has never said a word about [it]. I wish he'd just walk up and say, 'Man, I meant to crash you."

In Hornish's defense, the former IndyCar champion didn't actually cause the accident that cut into Johnson's Sprint Cup Series points lead.

"Either way, wouldn't you think that with what is on the line you'd at least walk up to a guy and be like, 'Man, I hate it for you. It wasn't my fault, somebody hit me?"' said Johnson, who clinched the championship two weeks later at Homestead. "But the guy just doesn't talk, doesn't say anything."

Hornish has a reason for his silence.

"I have a hard time talking to people when they want to talk to me, being as shy as I am," Hornish said. "But talking to someone who wants to beat me up, that's another story."

Nonetheless, Hornish conceded that he should have called Johnson after the wreck. He said he plans to "clear the air" this week.

"I feel that maybe he's right," Hornish said. "I should have went over and talked to him. ... I should have said something to him about it. I don't have any problems with Jimmie. I certainly would never try to take him out. A lot of people want to say, 'Are you guys trying to start a rivalry or something like that?' I don't want to start a rivalry with anybody. But if I'm going to, I'm going to have to start finishing a lot better to be able to do that."

Hornish, however, did let everyone know who really was responsible for the crash on the third lap. He said David Reutimann hit him from behind, causing him to hit Johnson as he tried to avoid spinning out.

Reutimann accepted all the blame, too.

"I called and apologized to Jimmie about eight times," Reutimann said. "I called and apologized to Sam. It was my fault for sure. No questions asked. I did my part in creating the wreck and I tried to do my part in making sure that people knew that wasn't a Sam Hornish mistake. That was a David Reutimann mistake. That (stinks) having to call and apologize to two guys." (Continued)