NASCAR at Daytona 2016: Winners and Losers from the Coke Zero 400
The Coke Zero 400 had what you want in a Fourth of July weekend: fireworks and the American flag waving from the victor’s car.
Brad Keselowski won the Coke Zero 400 as the Sprint Cup Circuit returned to Daytona International Speedway, but it was the 19-car Big One on Lap 90 that stole all the headlines, exterminated several contenders out of the race and changed the entire tenor for the remaining 70 laps.
“This is the frustration of speedway racing,” said NBC’s Steve Letarte during the broadcast. “Two drivers, Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray, get into one another. Just mistakes, but their mistakes are going to cause a poor night for almost half the field.”
That crash was the fulcrum this race hinged on. It was the sole catalyst for every winner and loser from this race, so without further ado, here stands this week’s recap.
Loser: Kasey Kahne Bounces off the Bubble
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Kasey Kahne suffered mightily from the Big One on Lap 90.
This driver has had a most challenging year. At times he pilots a top-five car, other times he can barely muster a top-20 finish.
And entering the CZ400, he was 16th in the driver standings, bouncing on the Chase for the Sprint Cup bubble.
You know who exited the Big One? Ryan Blaney, No. 17 in the standings before the race.
Naturally there was a mad scurry in the No. 5 garage to get back on the track to salvage points so Blaney doesn't put too much distance between himself and Kahne.
"You try to prepare as many parts and pieces ahead of time," said NBC's Steve Letarte, a former a crew chief, shedding light on the madness of getting a car back out the track.
"Points racing isn't popular, but popularity isn't the goal," Letarte said.
When points get you in, that makes you a popular dude come late September.
Winner: Pre-Loose Tire Tony Stewart
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Not that Tony Stewart could see it, but when Brian Scott's No. 44 car rode Harvick's No. 4 Chevy like E.T. in Elliott's (not Chase) bicycle basket, it spelled big news for Stewart.
Entering the race, Stewart was nine points back of 30th in the driver standings, the Chase-qualifying mark for Stewart after having won at Sonoma.
When Scott's night ended, Stewart's Chase hopes began. Stewart told NBC before the race:
"We still aren't out of the woods, we are nine points out of 30th and that is the big benchmark now to finish this thing off. I think tonight is one of those nights where we have to play both sides of the coin. We want to be aggressive, as I'd love to add one more win to my Daytona deal and make it twenty wins at Daytona. At the same time, I don't want to leave 39 points out of 30th either. We have to play the race. We have to do the ultimate 'Peyton Manning 400' here. We have to play every lap and call an audible every lap and see where we are at.
"
The strategy paid off as Stewart exited the Big One without a scratch. His playoff fate all but sealed with nine races to go in the regular season.
And then…
Stewart cut a tire got loose and overcorrected his car with 12 laps to go, ending his day. He failed to amass a cushion of points with Scott in the garage.
"I got loose in [Turn] 1 there," Stewart said on the NBC broadcast. "I got loose, I overcorrected for it, definitely my fault. We knew we might be able to gain points. We knew it was a coin toss. When that big wreck happened, that was an opportunity for us. I should've been smart and sat back a little bit."
By the end of the night he was still three points ahead of Scott, who sits in 31st place, but it could have been so much better.
Loser: No Bloomin' Onions for Kevin Harvick Nation
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Kevin Harvick, who suffered from agonizing foot pain, can depart the Coke Zero 400 knowing his place in the standings, the Chase Grid and the world at large hasn't changed much.
The thing with Harvick is the was trying to avoid—with strategy—the very situation that swallowed up his car and spit it out in tatters.
He said during the NBC broadcast.
"Just off the replay, our car started in middle and dropped to the back. We knew we wanted to move our way up to the front. We stayed with the middle of the pack. Those guys got tangled up there and we were in the middle of it. I knew I had one car on my roof and everyone kept piling in.
"
His green-flag pit stop halfway through the race was his sign to start moving up through he field. The timing couldn't have been worse.
"It's one of those things that doesn't take much to get there," he said.
He even said that racing at Daytona, a driver expects this kind of carnage from Lap 1, but ultimately the Big One consumed him and 18 other cars. Now he heads to Kentucky for a chance at a 1.5-mile oval, a distance Harvick crushes with regularity.
No bloomin' onions at Outback Steakhouse for you on Monday.
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Winner: Kurt Busch's Post-Race Coolness
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Kurt Busch, who has three second-place finishes at Daytona, isn't known for his cool head. He has a history of boiling hotter than water, but after the race, he was, well, cool when he had every right to be mad.
"Joey drove straight through us," Busch said after the race on NBC Sports. "I don't know if he was going from fifth to first. He flat-out ran our back tires off the ground."
NBC Sports' Dale Jarrett reserved opinion, then he saw the replay and promptly said Busch had every right to be mad.
Busch was in second place. Maybe he had a chance at tops in the points standings, but Logano sent the No. 41 car from runner-up to 23rd.
"Logano, you've got to concede," Busch said. "We'll keep digging. We may have been the points leader if we could have finished. Part of it is being in the right spot. We were in the right spot."
Rarely does the "right spot" include Logano in the rear view late in a race. This time it bit Busch, but odds are he'll get his revenge at some point. Maybe not as blatant as Matt Kenseth did at Martinsville a year ago, but something's brewing and Logano's list of enemies keeps growing.
Loser: Water Cooler Dale
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Prior to the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. told NBC:
"We're a much better team than we are in the standings. We just can't make any mistakes or give away any points these last few races before the Chase. The Chase is going to get here before you know it and these races leading up to that are going to be critical for our team and all the other guys sitting there without a win. If we can get a win, we'll put all that to bed and feel comfortable. We don't want to be battling for those last couple of spots at Richmond. That's no fun at all.
"
And while Junior didn't get shredded in the garbage disposal that was the Big One on Lap 90, he suffered enough damage and contact that his car failed to compete for the win.
He never had enough car. And despite the opportunities to move up, he could only muster 21st place on the night.
The pressure was mounting for the No. 88 team. Sure, enough of the top drivers ahead of Earnhardt in points got spat into the garage allowing him to gain points, but his overall performance at a track he's supposed to own is far from encouraging.
He should make the Chase, but as he said, it may come down to Richmond where he'll be battling for those final spots.
No fun at all.
Winner: Top-10 Invaders
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Wait a minute.
Here's a smattering of who finished in the top 10 (thanks in large part to the Big One in Lap 90): Trevor Bayne (third), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (fifth), Kyle Larson (sixth), Austin Dillon (seventh), Greg Biffle (eighth), Clint Bowyer (ninth) and Michael McDowell (10th).
Are you serious?
Sure, the Big One eradicated much of the usual suspects from the competition, but these guys (big ups to Roush-Fenway Racing) had to capitalize and not fade to where they typically finish.
You know what they did? They finished, and that's huge for some of those lower-budget teams.
Loser: Joey Logano's Drive Through
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You can look at this through two lenses.
One, Joey Logano, who finished fourth in this race, did his teammate a solid. He pushed Keselowski to the lead and assured Kez would win the race by spinning out Busch.
Two, Logano took the race away from someone (Busch), like shooting the tires out from under him.
"I thought I'd have something," Logano said during the NBC Sports post-race show. "Once you get toward the front, tires aren't as big a deal. It was cool to push Brad. I'm bummed to get into Kurt there."
Kyle Petty, a NASCAR analyst for NBC Sports, said during the broadcast: "He has a different style. He makes fast moves. You see guys that are smooth. Joey will come and cut across your hood. I can't fault him. He's got a Daytona 500 trophy in his house."
"[Busch] He got a bump from the 22 car," NBC Sports' Dale Jarrett said. "He's [Busch] got a right to be mad. He [Logano] wasn't going to win from there."
And that's the rub: Logano needs to know when it's OK to race that way and when it isn't. It wasn't his place to cut-block Busch out of the race.
Not in this case.
What it became was more ill will for the most hated driver in NASCAR.
Winner: The New King of Plate Racing
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These days Keselowski is the King of Plate racing. He is what Earnhardt was a year ago.
The win marks Keselowski's third of the year (tied for tops with Kyle Busch) and his second from three plate races. He's got the skill to reach clean air and he blocks better than an entire offensive line.
"Them guys were doing a heck of a job," Kez said on the NBC Sports broadcast. "My teammate was a huge part of this today. We worked together really well. He's a pro. He gave me the push to get the front. I don't care that it's not the [Daytona] 500. We're in Victory Lane at Daytona."
Kez led 115 of 160 laps and returned to the track that gave him fits at the start of the year.
"It's been in kick in the you-know-what," he said. "I've doubted myself. We came here for the 500 and quite honestly we ran like dog crap."
He finished 20in the 500.
Keselowski won the third race of the year, the 10th race of the year and now the 17th. He has seven top 10s in his last eight races.
He hasn't been as streaky as the other drivers. That has the makings of a champion. The win also marks the 100th Cup win for Team Penske.
Going forward, we all know the final race in the Contender Round: Talladega, where Kez has four wins.
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