Daytona 500 2015 Results: Winner, Standings, Highlights and Reaction

Joey Logano pulled away, leaving a huge wreck in his wake, to win the 57th Daytona 500.

Following a green-white-checkered finish to decide the race, Logano won the Sprint Cup season opener under caution. The win marked his first Daytona 500 triumph and the second for Team Penske.   

NASCAR captured a celebratory moment of the Great American Race's winning team:

Logano held off defending Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick and defending Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished second and third, respectively. It made Logano the second-youngest driver to win the race behind Trevor Bayne in 2011, via ESPN Stats & Info:

Nate Ryan of NBC Sports shared Logano's comments from inside the car:

Earnhardt, who was a fixture near the front all afternoon, fell behind late before recovering to finish third. His bid to win back-to-back Daytona 500s came up short, but Junior has finished third or better in the last four season openers.

Junior spoke about his lapse in judgment that caused him to fall behind, via Ryan:

Denny Hamlin, the top Joe Gibbs Racing car, and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top five on Sunday. Casey Mears and Martin Truex Jr. were two surprising names near the front, with Kasey Kahne giving Hendrick three drivers in the top 10.

Below is a look at the full results, standings and recap of the race.

Pos.	Driver	Laps Led
1	Joey Logano	31
2	Kevin Harvick	0
3	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	32
4	Denny Hamlin	4
5	Jimmie Johnson	39
6	Casey Mears	1
7	Clint Bowyer	0
8	Martin Truex Jr.	1
9	Kasey Kahne	0
10	Greg Biffle	2
11	David Gilliland	0
12	Sam Hornish Jr.	0
13	Michael Annett	1
14	Austin Dillon	0
15	Aric Almirola	0
16	Regan Smith	0
17	David Ragan	0
18	Johnny Sauter	0
19	Matt Crafton	0
20	A.J. Allmendinger	1
21	Danica Patrick	0
22	Cole Whitt	0
23	Carl Edwards	0
24	Bobby Labonte	3
25	Paul Menard	0
26	Michael Waltrip	0
27	Jamie McMurray	0
28	Ty Dillon	0
29	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	0
30	Trevor Bayne	0
31	Michael McDowell	0
32	Reed Sorenson	0
33	Jeff Gordon	87
34	Kyle Larson	0
35	Matt Kenseth	0
36	Mike Wallace	0
37	Justin Allgaier	0
38	Ryan Newman	0
39	Ryan Blaney	0
40	J.J. Yeley	1
41	Brad Keselowski	0
42	Tony Stewart	0
43	Landon Cassill	0

Pos.	Driver	Points	Wins	Top 5	Top 10
1	Joey Logano	47	1	1	1
2	Kevin Harvick	42	0	1	1
3	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	42	0	1	1
4	Denny Hamlin	41	0	1	1
5	Jimmie Johnson	40	0	1	1
6	Casey Mears	39	0	0	1
7	Clint Bowyer	37	0	0	1
8	Martin Truex Jr.	37	0	0	1
9	Kasey Kahne	35	0	0	1
10	Greg Biffle	35	0	0	1

After an eventful Speedweeks that saw multiple wrecks in qualifying, the Sprint Unlimited and during practices, the Daytona 500 was mostly tame for the first 40 laps. That all changed on Lap 41, with some huge names involved in an accident.

It wasn't the big one, but it was a disastrous wreck for Tony Stewart.

The three-time Sprint Cup champion brushed up against Ryan Blaney and smashed into the wall. Stewart's right side was torn apart, also causing Matt Kenseth to sustain some damage. NASCAR from Bleacher Report provided a visual of the damage for Stewart:

NASCAR's official account gave a peek into Stewart's garage:

The 43-year-old driver has endured two difficult seasons and was hoping to start off 2015 on a high note. He missed the final stretch of the 2013 season with a broken leg, then struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. last year. Both incidents were in a sprint car, not a stock car.

The Daytona 500 has brought nothing but bad luck for Stewart during his illustrious career, as Jeff Gluck of USA Today noted:

Rather than pinning the blame on another driver, Stewart owned up to his mistake. He referenced the accident and the damage sustained, via Ryan and Dustin Long of NBC Sports:

Regan Smith and Matt Crafton are two drivers that weren't originally expecting to make the field.

Smith filled in for SHR driver Kurt Busch, who NASCAR indefinitely suspended for actions detrimental to stock car racing. Crafton was filling in for Kyle Busch, Kurt's brother, after he sustained a broken leg during Saturday's Xfinity race, per Kenny Bruce of NASCAR.com.

Both drivers were competitive on Sunday during their second races of the weekend. Crafton, a two-time defending Camping World Truck Series champion, ran near the middle of the pack most of the day after starting fourth. Smith, who won the 2014 Daytona Xfinity race, put in a solid effort in the No. 41 car.

While Smith had 172 starts coming into Sunday, Crafton was making his first at the age of 38. Crafton discussed the honor of starting in the Great American Race, via Long:

Neither Crafton nor Smith were considered contenders to take home the victory, but one driver who had aspirations to win was Brad Keselowski. That hope went up in smoke on Lap 161 as engine issues caused him to head to the garage.

Alan Cavanna of Fox Sports passed along Keselowski's comments following the mishap:

Keselowski's and Stewart's days didn't go as planned, but they will still be contenders the rest of the season. Team Penske drivers combined for 11 wins last season, but it was an SHR driver that claimed the title in 2014.

The Daytona 500 is always the most heralded race of the season, but it's far from the deciding factor for a champion. With only a handful of races at superspeedways all year, Logano will have to sustain his success the rest of the season to compete in the Chase.

Drivers will now head to Atlanta for the second race of the year. Kasey Kahne took the checkered flag in the lone event there last season, so Hendrick will be the team to watch again along with Penske. The Atlanta race is set to start on Sunday, March 1 at 1 p.m. ET.

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