DAYTONA

1. Into the grinder

Restrictor-plate racing at Daytona has turned into a demolition derby. It has gone from “if” it happens to “when” it happens. “Sometimes you’re in the half of the field that finishes; sometimes you’re in half of the field that doesn’t finish it,” Joey Logano said after climbing from his wreck.

2. New faces

There is one interesting thing about Daytona and Talladega races. Fans get to see fresh faces at the front of the field. Erik Jones scored his first Cup win, and other top-five finishers included AJ Allmendinger, Kasey Kahne and Chris Buescher. “Top three was a good day,” Allmendinger said.

3. Out of bounds

Thanks to Justin Haley’s exploits in Daytona’s Xfinity Series race, the Cup drivers stayed away from the out-of-bounds line. Haley got the checkered flag, but was penalized for dipping below the yellow line and was denied the win by NASCAR. He was scored 18th. Ouch!

— Godwin Kelly, godwin. kelly@news-jrnl.com