WINNERS
Chase Elliott — Unstoppable on the road courses. He scored his third consecutive road course victory with Sunday’s triumph at Daytona. “Any win at Daytona is special,” he said.
Denny Hamlin — With his runner-up finish Sunday, he has placed first or second in 10 of 23 races this season. That’s 43.5% of the time.
Martin Truex Jr. — Just as amazing as Hamlin’s top-two stat is that Sunday marked the fifth consecutive race Truex has placed third. What are the odds? “I’m pleased with how we’re running,” he said. “I think that’s the most important part. There’s a little bit here and there that we obviously could do better.”
Jimmie Johnson — His fourth-place finish was his first top-five result since placing fifth at Bristol in late May. It’s also his third top-five finish this season.
Chris Buescher — He had never finished in the top 10 in 11 previous Cup road course races. He placed fifth Sunday.
Kaz Grala — Fill-in for Austin Dillon, who was out after testing positive for COVID-19. Making his Cup debut, Grala finished seventh. How did Sunday’s finish compare to his Truck win at Daytona in 2017? I gotta say from an actual career perspective, I think this was a bigger day for me,” he said.
Austin Cindric — Won Saturday’s Xfinity race for his fifth victory in the last six races.
LOSERS
Jimmie Johnson — Despite his best finish since late May, he gained only one point on teammate William Byron for the final playoff spot and is 25 points back.
Ryan Blaney — He finished 31st for back-to-back finishes of 30th or worse.
Kyle Busch — He is becoming more than an occasional visitor to this spot as his winless Cup season continues. His 37th-place finish marked the sixth time he’s placed 29th or worse this season. That’s 26.1% of the season.
