Quick Takeaways from Daytona: Tony Stewart's in the top 30

Throughout 2016 we may have way too many quick thoughts for our post-race posts. So consider our Takeaways feature to be the home of our random and sometimes intelligent musings. Sometimes the post may have a theme. Sometimes it may just be a mess of unrelated thoughts. Make sure you tweet us your thoughts after the race or email your post-race rants via the link in the signature line below

• The watch for Tony Stewart to get into the top 30 has ended. At least temporarily.

Despite crashing out late during Saturday night’s race (won by Brad Keselowski) Stewart made it to the top 30 in the points standings thanks to a 22-car pileup that he avoided earlier in the race.

Stewart needs to be in the top 30 to qualify for the Chase after his win last week at Sonoma. So as long as Stewart stays in the top 30 – a feat that shouldn’t be exceptionally hard – he’s bound for the Chase.

Stewart finished 26th Saturday night and is three points ahead of Brian Scott, who is 31st in the standings.

• Kurt Busch was a bit perplexed with Joey Logano after what happened on the final lap of the race, and we understand why. Busch was battling for second with his brother Kyle when he went spinning off the bumper of Logano.

Logano had four fresher tires than Busch did, but he really didn’t have anywhere to go. Nor did he have anyone behind him shoving him into Busch.

The spin meant Busch missed out on a 15th top-10 finish in 17 races. His crew chief wasn’t too happy with Logano either.

• Given the importance of the side draft at Talladega and Daytona (yeah, we’re sick of talking about it too), we’re thinking there’s a good chance NASCAR will make some rules changes for restrictor plate races in advance of the 2017 season.

• Trevor Bayne finished third, his best Cup Series finish since winning the 2011 Daytona 500. Bayne, along with his Roush Fenway Racing team, has shown improvement this season. But he’s not going to make the Chase without a win.

• NBC’s coverage of Saturday night’s race was dominated by Keselowski. And commercials. Man, did the commercial breaks feel incessant. We’re looking forward to the commercial breakdown from the always-reliable CawsNJaws.com, which tracks the length of commercial breaks during NASCAR races.

The 2015 summer Daytona race had 33 minutes of commercials. We’re guessing the number is higher from Saturday night’s broadcast.

• Clint Bowyer got a much-needed top-10 finish with a ninth-place run and Michael McDowell finished 10th. It’s McDowell’s third career top-10 finish and all of them have come at Daytona.

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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!

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