Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano leads NASCAR power rankings

The wait between the 2014 season finale and the 2015 season opening Daytona 500 was only three months, but it certainly seemed longer.

Contributing to the feeling that the beginning of the season would never arrive was series of stories where the focus was on off-track events. A list including the sordidness of the Kurt Busch domestic assault case to Sprint’s announcement it was leaving NASCAR to Jeff Gordon’s pending retirement. But Sunday’s Daytona 500 returned the focus where it belongs and did so with of the better races in recent memory.

1. Joey Logano

If 2014 was Joey Logano’s coming out party, then this season certainly gives the appearance of him firmly establishing himself as a championship threat. He was flawless Sunday and what made the performance all the better was the commitment Logano and team put forth in the offseason to take what was a weakness and turn it into a strength.

2. Kevin Harvick

Had the final caution not come out it would have been interesting to see if Kevin Harvick -- with a push from Dale Earnhardt -- would have been able to muscle by Logano for the win. The hunch is the defending champ would have failed as he and Earnhardt were focused more on jostling for second instead of working together.

3. Jimmie Johnson

It’s too soon to make any definitive conclusions this early in the season. But it does feel like if the No. 48 team can roll into Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend and seriously contend, it will go a long way to erasing last year’s disappointment and reestablishing Jimmie Johnson’s superiority.

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt’s Daytona 500 mastery continues as he’s now finished third or better in five of the past six years. Considering the unpredictable nature of restrictor-plate racing, that’s a pretty sterling record in NASCAR’s biggest event.

5. Jeff Gordon

You’re not supposed to smile when you finish 33rd in your final Daytona 500, a race where you may have had the best car. And yet there was Jeff Gordon on pit road smiling. Though not pleased with the result, he was happy with the effort and the festivities leading up to his final start in the Great American Race.

6. Denny Hamlin

Quietly Denny Hamlin is compiling a very good Daytona 500 record. Albeit, one filled with lots of near-misses, as in the past four years he’s finished fourth, second and fourth. It looked like he would get that first victory, but then Logano passed him with 10 to go and Hamlin was never able to find a way back around and seriously contend.

7. Matt Kenseth

After taking the Sprint Unlimited and leading a ton of laps in his Duel qualifier, Matt Kenseth was rightly regarded as one of the favorites to win Sunday. But he never got the opportunity to contend thanks to getting a piece of the accident Tony Stewart created when he swept up the track. Kenseth sustained significant front end damage and his race was effectively over.

8. Carl Edwards

A brake issue along with a pit road penalty slowed Carl Edwards Sunday, but that aside he had a good first outing with Joe Gibbs Racing. He and crew chief Darian Grubb quickly got on the same page with the chemistry between the two certainly present. While still early, there’s no reason to think the No. 19 team won’t be a serious player this season.

9. Brad Keselowski

Between running into Martin Truex Jr. on pit road, getting a piece of another incident and then something rupturing a hole in the oil pan leading to the No. 2 car losing an engine, Brad Keselowski had a Daytona 500 to forget. The good news is Atlanta is a prime location for a rebound, representing the style of track Team Penske dominated on last year.

10. Clint Bowyer

A year ago Clint Bowyer blew an engine almost immediately in the Daytona 500 and finished second-to-last. That was the prelude to a season where he went winless and missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup. This go-around was much better, with Bowyer nearly winning before sliding back to seventh.

11. Kasey Kahne

Unlike his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates, who combined to lead 102 of 203 laps, Kasey Kahne didn’t pace the field once. But he did leave Daytona with a top-10 (ninth) and rolls into Atlanta as the defending winner where he will have an excellent chance of going back-to-back.

12. Greg Biffle

Riding on a hope and a prayer along with some skillful driving Greg Biffle avoided the last lap pileup that ensnared a bunch of drivers and was rewarded with a 10th-place finish. A result that far exceeds those of Roush Fenway Racing teammates Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (29th) and Trevor Bayne (30th), and something which likely will be the case many times over in 2015.

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