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Power Rankings: Surprise! Joey Logano has the top spot
1. Joey Logano:
After the race was over, Logano radioed to his crew during their jubilation and exclaimed that he couldn't have beaten a better person. The driver who finished second? Kevin Harvick, the man who confronted Logano for his Sprint Unlimited pushing tactics. Logano and Harvick have had tensions before (remember who wears the firesuit in the family?) and Unlimited aside, it had to be incredibly special for Logano to beat Harvick to the line, caution or not. At the media gathering before last year's race at Homestead, Logano became the trash-talk target. He chose to believe it was because he was Harvick's biggest threat for the title. He might have been, except for that late race pit stop. And he now has as many Daytona 500 wins as the 2014 Sprint Cup champ does.
2. Kevin Harvick:
Hey, Harvick, we were just talking about you. Cupcake ran most of the race up front but didn't lead any laps at all. And heck, we can probably credit him with Logano's win too. While Clint Bowyer gets a lot of credit (and more on him in a second), Harvick's push of Bowyer is what got the top line moving on the final restart and allowed Logano to get out in front of the field. As soon as the green flag waved, Harvick's car was glued to Bowyer's bumper.
3. Clint Bowyer:
Yeah, Bowyer finished seventh, but he goes here because of the push. We had the opportunity to watch the race on television on Monday and the push he gave Logano with eight laps to go was something else. The field was three-wide and Bowyer added some turboboost to Logano's car and sent him clear of the field. Another fun thing to watch over the last 20 laps? Bowyer's driving style at the end, He was diving into the corners, drifting the car up to the wall and then mashing the gas again.
4. Jimmie Johnson:
Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. might be the stories of the race if it wasn't for the caution for Justin Allgaier. The two cars teamed up and had an incredible run before the caution came out. Our guess is that they would have gotten the lead because Logano had no one glued to his bumper, and while the leader has a lot of control in these races, two cars nose-to-tail working together are incredibly hard to stop.
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.:
Is this the bad move penalty for Junior? He had one of the best cars during the race and one bad move was disastrous. While they could be unrelated, but at different points in the race, Jeff Gordon, Johnson and Junior all fell back through the pack without drafting help from the front of the field. Was the lack of drafting help in those scenarios calculated moves by other drivers to remove a strong car from the front of the field? While we certainly can't answer in the affirmative, we wouldn't blame other drivers if so.
6. Denny Hamlin:
Well done, Denny. By staying at the front of the field near the entire race you avoided Danica Patrick and any possible thoughts of retribution. And, most importantly, didn't give yourself the chance to be involved in a crash with her again. After the race, Harvick and Hamlin had this exchange as Harvick was talking about the different conditions on Sunday
"We went a little too far, wound up too tight," Harvick said And then he added the following with a smile. "My car was very manageable so I could be pushed. My car was tight enough, Denny, to be pushed
"Good, man," Hamlin said. "That's why I push you guys."
7. Casey Mears:
Hey, Mears finished sixth. Not bad for a dude that was literally the last car on the track for a good portion of the first half of the race. He had lost the draft with AJ Allmendinger and Mike Wallace and the three cars had formed a line about 10 seconds behind the leaders. And it's also not bad for a guy who made the race by the skin of his teeth after a blown engine in the qualifying races on Thursday.
8. Martin Truex Jr.:
Given the way that Truex performed at Speedweeks, perhaps eighth is too low. But damn, what a difference a year makes. Last year at Daytona, Truex had a fast car but blew an engine in the 500. This year, he ran well in the Sprint Unlimited, his Budweiser Duel and the 500. Given how last year's 500 was a bit of an omen for his season, if this year is an omen too, Truex is a Chase contender.
9. Kasey Kahne:
Poor Kasey Kahne, he was the fourth car all weekend at Hendrick Motorsports. Wait, what's that? He finished ninth? Oh, OK, it certainly can be worse, can't it? Kahne was the forgotten car of sorts for Hendrick at the 500 as Gordon, Johnson and Junior all snagged the headlines at one point or another during Speedweeks. But Kahne's car had speed too. He was at the front of the first Duel and in the top 15 for most of the Daytona 500.
10. Greg Biffle:
During the Unlimited, Biffle's car hit the Daytona inside backstretch wall incredibly hard. But guess what? The backstretch wall there is covered with SAFER barrier, and thankfully Biffle was fine despite an arguably harder hit than Kyle Busch had on Saturday. OK, OK, we won't harp on that again because it's been done, but we're looking forward to the SAFER barrier additions to other tracks.
11. David Gilliland:
After practice in the Sprint Cup garage, Gilliland was meeting people who appeared to be guests of his sponsor, Love's Travel Stops. Despite recently climbing from his car and in his driver hat and firesuit, Gilliland shook everyone's hand and introduced himself. It was a fun and unassuming scene to watch and can serve as a bit of a metaphor for Gilliland and Front Row in the Sprint Cup Series. Because he finished 11th on Sunday, and you probably didn't realize that.
12. Sam Hornish Jr.:
Welcome back to the Cup Series, Sam. Hornish crashed in his Duel race but ran a solid Daytona 500 and finished 12th. 26 of Hornish's races are unsponsored this year and he's got Medallion Bank on his car this weekend. That's the company that RPM investor Andrew Murstein founded. With a few more good runs, piecing together sponsorship shouldn't be as difficult.
Lucky Dog: Michael Annett crashed his primary car on Wednesday, slipped into the Daytona 500 with a top-15 in his Duel and ended up 13th thanks to the last lap crash.
The DNF: Oh man, Tony Stewart.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
