1. Carl Edwards. Edwards played it cool for the first 200 laps at Daytona, and it paid off with a runner-up finish.
2. Kurt Busch. Busch had a great Speedweeks. Just didn’t get the win Sunday. Per usual.
3. Kyle Busch . Kyle couldn’t find a comfortable drafting partner during Speedweeks, but he did more on his own than any other driver.
4. Clint Bowyer. Bowyer led the second-most laps and avoided the engine problems two of his teammates had.
5. Ryan Newman. Newman finished 22nd, but he didn’t finish in pieces at Daytona for the first time since July 2009.
6. Mark Martin. What a comeback. From three laps down to 10th place. Martin kept plugging and it paid off.
7. Tony Stewart. Stewart came away with a Daytona victory, but not the one he wanted. He’s now lobbying NASCAR to run the 500 on Saturday.
8. Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya finished his eventful day with a sixth-place finish. How’d that happen?
9. Jeff Burton . After all the problems of last year, a blown engine isn’t the way to start 2011. But remember that he did win his Duel. That counts for something.
10. Denny Hamlin . Hamlin has that “always-there-at-the-end” look that so many champions do.
11. Jimmie Johnson. Two ways to look at Johnson’s 27th-place finish: You can say, “Bad 500,” or you can tip your cap at the extra 10 points the 48 team picked up by returning to the track.
12. Jeff Gordon. See Johnson. Gordon finished 28th. Both finished with 17 points.
13. Paul Menard. Led 11 laps in his RCR debut. Bet you didn’t think he’d have a better first day with a new team than Kasey Kahne.
14. Trevor Bayne. Bayne was good all week, proving the win was no fluke. Can’t wait to see what he does over the course of the season.
15. Kevin Harvick. His race ended before it really got started, but it’s still crystal clear that RCR cars are the class of restrictor-plate tracks.
16. Regan Smith . Obviously didn’t get the pub Bayne received, but Smith is proving he’s the real deal, especially on plate tracks.
17. Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was fast at Daytona—again—now can he follow it up at one of his best tracks in Phoenix?
18. Jamie McMurray. McMurray ran strong and led 17 laps. Considering all the banging out there Sunday, 18th place isn’t all that bad.
19. AJ Allmendinger. AJ didn’t show nearly the speed at Daytona he did last season but ended up with a much better finish: 11th instead of 32nd.
20. Bobby Labonte. Labonte looked like the Labonte of old, finishing fourth in Marcos Ambrose’ old ride. Ambrose? He finished where Labonte hung around last year: 37th.
21. David Gilliland. Huge day for Gilliland. His third-place finish is his third career top five in Cup and first since 2008.
22. David Ragan. If Ragan loses his ride at Roush Fenway, his critical error on the GWC restart will be even more of a heartbreaker.
23. Martin Truex Jr. Truex caught a break when his owner knocked his teammate out of the 500 rather than him.
24. Matt Kenseth. Speaking of guys on the same team tangling with each other … Kenseth’s day ended with a tap from Roush teammate Greg Biffle.
25. Greg Biffle. A far cry from last year’s third in the 500. The Biff’s 35th puts him behind the 8-ball early in NASCAR’s new points system.
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