Sprint Cup Chase 2014: NASCAR Standings and Schedule After Coke Zero 400

A weekend of waiting at Daytona International Speedway led to a delayed start of the Coke Zero 400, but it resulted in yet another exhilarating race, with two massive wrecks at the famed track.

The rain delay from Saturday night and yet another on Sunday finally gave way for some exciting racing at Daytona, but it was ultimately halted by another delay, as Aric Almirola won the race after just 112 laps.

Almirola took over the lead and finally earned his first win. He also made the most of his opportunity to move up in the Chase Grid. He wasn't the only surprise driver in the top 10, but he made some history at Daytona, per NASCAR Stats:

Not only does the win boost him in the standings, but it also puts him ahead of several drivers on the Chase Grid. With an emphasis put on winning this season, the Richard Petty Motorsports driver essentially secured a place in the Chase at the end of the year.

Another driver who climbed back into the Chase standings was Austin Dillon. The rookie took his second top-10 finish of the season at Daytona, earning his first top-five result, and now sits 16th on the Chase Grid.

Following 18 races on the season, here's a look at the current Chase Grid following the rain-shortened Coke Zero 400:

Pos.	Driver	Points	Wins	Top 5	Top 10
1	Jimmie Johnson	596	3	6	12
2	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	624	2	9	12
3	Brad Keselowski	586	2	8	9
4	Joey Logano	546	2	6	9
5	Carl Edwards	543	2	4	8
6	Kevin Harvick	514	2	5	8
7	Jeff Gordon	651	1	6	13
8	Kyle Busch	523	1	4	7
9	Denny Hamlin	493	1	4	6
10	Aric Almirola	452	1	2	4
11	Kurt Busch	422	1	4	4
12	Matt Kenseth	581	0	6	11
13	Ryan Newman	534	0	1	6
14	Paul Menard	516	0	3	9
15	Clint Bowyer	509	0	2	7
16	Austin Dillon	494	0	1	2

The Coke Zero 400 was difficult to predict with the myriad of changes from Saturday to Sunday. When the rain finally let up, all 43 cars attempted to get in as much of the race as possible.

Following yet another rain delay shortly into the race, a huge crash derailed the chances for quite a few notable drivers. Just before the competition caution was set to take place, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got loose and started a massive accident that involved several of the top contenders.

Jeff Gluck of USA Today noted several of the biggest drivers in the crash:

One driver who came away extremely unhappy was Tony Stewart, which is nothing new for Smoke. He was collected in the accident after driving well at the start of the race, but he couldn't continue after the damage he incurred and finished 40th.

Smoke shared his thoughts on Stenhouse following the accident, per Marty Smith of ESPN:

A second big wreck took place several laps later and hurt another potential contender for a win.

The second huge crash involved 26 cars and collected Kyle Busch, who came into the race eighth on the Chase Grid with a victory this season. Busch had his car completely flip over and was one of several contenders to see his day end during the wreck.

The driver spoke about the unfortunate finish to his day, via Fox Sports: NASCAR:

Along with Busch, drivers like Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne were also caught up in the second accident. Unlike Busch and Logano, Kahne and several of the racers involved in the wreck don't have the security blanket of a victory from earlier this season to rely on.

What the win ultimately means for Almirola is that he has a very serious chance to make the Chase field. Coming into the race at 23rd in the points standings, he is now 10th on the Chase Grid and might stay near that position thanks to his first win in Sprint Cup.

Almirola spoke about just how much he wanted to see the race end during the second rain delay in the race:

Following the race at Daytona, here's a look at the remaining schedule for the Sprint Cup season:

Date	Race	Where	Time (ET)	TV
Chase Races
July 13	Camping World RV Sales 301	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	1 p.m.	TNT
July 27	The John Wayne Walding 400 at The Brickyard	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	1 p.m.	ESPN
Aug 3	GoBowling.com 400	Pocono Speedway	1 p.m.	ESPN
Aug 10	Cheez-It 355 at The Glen	Watkins Glen International	1 p.m.	ESPN
Aug 17	Pure Michigan 400	Michigan International Speedway	1 p.m.	ESPN
Aug 23	Irwin Tools Night Race	Bristol Motor Speedway	7:30 p.m.	ABC
Aug 31	NASCAR Sprint Cup Series August Atlanta Race	Atlanta Motor Speedway	7:30 p.m.	ESPN
Sept 6	Federated Auto Parts 400	Richmond International Speedway	7:30 p.m.	ABC
Sept 14	NASCAR Sprint Cup Series September Chicagoland Race	Chicagoland Speedway	2 p.m.	ESPN
Sept 21	Sylvania 300	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	2 p.m.	ESPN
Sept 28	AAA 400	Dover International Speedway	2 p.m.	ESPN
Oct 5	Hollywood Casino 400	Kansas Speedway	2 p.m.	ESPN
Oct 11	Bank of America 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway	7:30 p.m.	ABC
Oct 19	GEICO 500	Talladega Superspeedway	2 p.m.	ESPN
Oct 26	Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500	Martinsville Speedway	1:30 p.m.	ESPN
Nov 2	AAA Texas 500	Texas Motor Speedway	3 p.m.	ESPN
Nov 9	Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500	Phoenix International Raceway	3 p.m.	ESPN
Nov 16	Ford Ecoboost 400	Homestead-Miami Speedway	3 p.m.	ESPN

Moving forward, one driver who hasn't secured his place in the Chase might be able to improve his ranking next Sunday.

With the Sprint Cup circuit now heading to New Hampshire for the Camping World RV Sales 301, Matt Kenseth comes into the race with the most recent win at the track. Not able to notch a victory this season thus far, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver heads into New Hampshire with hope to earn his first.  

Since the switch to JGR, Kenseth has led 139 laps at New Hampshire and has not finished outside the top 10 at the track. But thanks to other drivers like Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, who have a combined six victories at New Hampshire, it won't be an easy task for Kenseth to move up in the standings.

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