NASCAR at Daytona 2015 Results: Winner, Standings, Highlights and Reaction

Although Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s strong effort in the 2015 Daytona 500 in February was all for naught in the end, his luck was a little better the second time around at the Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt won the Coke Zero 400 early Monday morning.

A caution on Lap 154 led to a frenzied green-white-checkered finish in which Earnhardt, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin had a fierce battle over the top three spots. Hamlin and Johnson continued fighting over second and third, but neither was able to move ahead of Junior.

The victory was a deserved one for Earnhardt. He led 96 of the 161 laps and spent almost the entirety of the second half in first place. NBC Sports' Nate Ryan compared it to Earnhardt's win at the Geico 500 in May:

The massive crash right at the finish line, however, will overshadow the final result. Austin Dillon was at the bottom of the track and flipped over two lanes of cars and into the catch fence, per NASCAR's official Twitter account:

Here's a better look at the impact with the catch fence, via the Xfinity Series' Twitter account:

This is what Dillon's car looked like after it came to a full stop—the engine was jettisoned roughly 20 feet away from where the car halted:

Somehow, Dillon crawled out from under the car under his own power and waved to the Daytona crowd to show that he was OK. It's a testament to the safety of the cars and the durability of the catch fence that he somehow avoided any injury.

According to the NBC broadcast (via USA Today's Jeff Gluck), a few fans were attended to by medical personnel for minor injuries after being struck by debris.

Dillon finished in seventh place.

You can view the top 10 below, and the full standings are available at NASCAR.com:

Pos.	Driver
1	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2	Jimmie Johnson
3	Denny Hamlin
4	Kevin Harvick
5	Kurt Busch
6	Jeff Gordon
7	Austin Dillon
8	Ryan Newman
9	Trevor Bayne
10	Clint Bowyer

Here's a look at how the Coke Zero 400 results impacted the Chase standings:

Pos.	Driver	Wins	Points
1	Jimmie Johnson	4	589
2	Kevin Harvick	2	656
3	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2	593
4	Kurt Busch	2	508
5	Joey Logano	1	581
6	Martin Truex Jr.	1	569
7	Brad Keselowski	1	520
8	Matt Kenseth	1	501
9	Denny Hamlin	1	480
10	Carl Edwards	1	408
11	Kyle Busch*	1	152
12	Jamie McMurray	0	526
13	Jeff Gordon	0	500
14	Kasey Kahne	0	496
15	Paul Menard	0	480
16	Ryan Newman	0	472

The race finally got underway after a rain delay of nearly four hours, which represented yet another Mother Nature-related setback. Saturday's Coke Zero 400 qualification was canceled, while the start of the Xfinity Series race was also pushed back after an hour-long holdup.

At least Stewart-Haas Racing was able to have some fun with the situation:

Once the green flag dropped, the nature of restrictor-plate racing prevented any driver from enjoying a sustained period of dominance through the first half of the race. A lot of cars were packed into a relatively small plot of track for most of the Coke Zero 400, and the lead was changing hands rather rapidly.

Another hallmark of restrictor-plate racing—big crashes—was present throughout Sunday night and into Monday morning.

One night after a wreck in the final five laps ended Brian Scott's chances of winning the Xfinity Series race, his bad luck carried over into the Coke Zero 400. In the 86th lap, he found himself involved in a crash that saw Carl Edwards' No. 19 car land on top of his hood at one point, per NASCAR:

Luckily, all the drivers dragged into the accident walked away largely unscathed. Edwards didn't lose his sense of humor either, per Gluck:

In the 105th lap, another "Big One" cost multiple drivers any shot at possibly winning. Among the high-profile stars knocked out of contention by the wreck were Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Larson, Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano:

Ryan Truex thought the drivers weren't the only ones with frayed nerves Monday morning:

Logano, Keselowski and Kenseth all returned to the race, but they found themselves in a steep hole.

Over time, the cream rose to the top, and that largely meant Earnhardt. Others, like Johnson, Hamlin, Trevor Bayne, Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer, were knocking on the door, but the No. 88 car continued to hold off the competition.

A couple of cautions late in the race helped Earnhardt consolidate his stranglehold on the top spot. Before each of the restarts, he was able to recalibrate and conserve fuel, which was critical at that juncture.

According to NASCAR.com's Brad Norman, there was a slight concern that Earnhardt's car might begin to fail him, but the issue proved to be inconsequential:

This is Earnhardt's second checkered flag of the 2015 Sprint Cup season, strengthening his place in the Chase standings as he pursues an elusive first championship.

He'll look to jump into second place at the Quaker State 400, which is scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Note: Kyle Busch must finish in the top 30 in points in order to qualify for the Chase.