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The Rundown: Daytona driver grades

Breaking down the full field for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway:


1. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. What a night for Keselowski and Team Penske. Total domination by Keselowski, who led 115 of 161 laps for his fifth restrictor-plate win but first at Daytona. Grade: A+


2. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing.
Busch recovers from yet another hard crash at Daytona to score his series-best 10th top five of the season. Grade: A


3. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing.
Bayne avoided being collected in Tony Stewart's wreck to finish in the top five for the second time this season and third time in his career. You haven't forgotten the first, have you? Grade: A


4. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. It was a tale of two pushes for Logano. Teammate Brad Keselowski loved his on the final restart; Kurt Busch had no love for Logano after he went from 2nd to sliding across the start-finish line in 23rd. Grade: A-


5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse came into the year with three career top-five finishes, one in each of the past three seasons. Now he has two in 2016. This also was his third top 10, equaling his total for all of 2015. Well done. Grade: A


6. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing.
Larson's finishes at Daytona this year: 7th and 6th. In his first four starts: 38th, 36th, 34th and 39th with three DNFs for crashes. Grade: A


7. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing.
In seven starts at Daytona, Dillon has five top-10 finishes. It's only a matter of time before he puts the No. 3 in Victory Lane. Grade: A


8. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing.
Biffle started from the pole for the first time since 2012 and picked up his first top 10 since last September at New Hampshire. Nicely done. Grade: A


9. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. After his quick exit last week at Sonoma (five laps), Bowyer got his third top 10 of the season and led a lap for the first time in 2016. Grade: A+


10. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport-Leavine Family.
McDowell scored the third top 10 of his career (196 starts) and first since 2014. Oh … all three top 10s are at Daytona. Grade: A+


11. Cole Whitt, No. 98 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports.
Witt just missed the first top 10 of his career (101 starts) but still posted his best finish. Grade: A+


12. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Despite being collected in Tony Stewart's wreck on Lap 149, Mears recovered for his best finish since finishing 11th in last year's Coke Zero 400. Grade: A


13. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger restarted 10th on Lap 155 and was running ninth when Kyle Larson and Clint Bowyer came together, pinching Allmendinger high and he brushed the wall. That could have been disaster. Instead he cut his deficit to 16th place from 20 points to 12. Grade: A


14. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing.
Blaney was involved in the incidents that brought out the final two cautions but prevailed to post his best finish in three starts at Daytona. Grade: A-


15. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports.
One day after winning the Xfinity Series race, Almirola gets his best Cup finish since the second week of the season. Grade: A


16. David Ragan, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing.
Yet another driver to post his best finish of the season. Grade: A


17. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes on the last caution, costing him a better finish. Grade: B-


18. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing.
Newman's car sustained damage in the Big One on Lap 90, but his crew fixed the nose of the No. 31 and Newman increased his cushion over 17th place to 26 points despite dropping a spot to 14th in the standings. Grade: B


19. David Gilliland, No. 35 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Gilliland avoided trouble and has now finished 17th (Talladega) and 19th in his only two starts of the season. Grade: A

20. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett was one of 22 drivers officially caught up in the big wreck. He also was one of the drivers to post his best finish of the season. Grade: A


21. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports.
Earnhardt sustained damage in the big wreck but survived and just missed the Carl Edwards wreck on Lap 155. Despite that good fortune, he was not happy with his car. We can't print what said about it over the radio. You'll have to trust us on this one. Grade: C


22. Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. A familiar refrain: Sorenson posted his best finish of the season. In fact, it's Sorenson's best finish since Talladega in October 2014 (14th). Grade: A


23. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing.
Not that Busch would have caught Brad Keselowski, but he was running second when Joey Logano turned Busch as the field approached the finish line. Busch's 0-fer continues in restrictor plate races, but we give him some love on his grade. Grade: A


24. Bobby Labonte, No. 32 Ford, GO FAS Racing. Labonte was in line for an even better finish until he was collected in Carl Edwards' crash on Lap 155. Grade: B


25. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing.
Edwards checked up when AJ Allmendinger touched the wall on Lap 155. Unfortunately Ryan Blaney couldn't do the same and Edwards was turned into the wall. His eight laps led were third most in the race. Grade: B-


26. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. By design, Stewart ran in the back for most of the race and looked golden as he totally avoided the big wreck -- he was running 34th -- and found himself running sixth on Lap 149 and staring at a big points jump in the standings. Instead, he got loose in Turn 1, overcorrected and smacked the wall, ending his day. "Definitely my fault," he said after the race. Still, because of the big wreck, he could finish no worse than 26th. And a 26th-place finish with a DNF was a gift. Grade: C


27. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Danica was caught up in the big wreck but returned to the track and finished 31 laps back. Grade: C


28. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Temptation got the better of Kenseth on Saturday night. A bad pit stop put the No. 20 in the back of the field, and he said that should have been a sign to stay back there. But when it appeared the racing had "settled down," temptation wooed him forward. Right into the jaws of the Big One. Kenseth returned to the track and finished 34 laps back. Grade: C-


29. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. Truex also sustained damage in the Big One, and like his Toyota brethren Matt Kenseth, also returned to the track and finished 34 laps back. Grade: C


30. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports.
The Big One made Kahne a big loser. He went from 16th in the standings, with a three-point cushion over Ryan Blaney, to 18th in the standings, nine points behind 16th-place Jamie McMurray. It could have been worse, but the No. 5 team worked hard to get Kahne back on the track. Grade: C


31. Landon Cassill, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. An early electrical issue cost Cassill 42 laps in the garage, but to the team's credit the car returned to the track and Cassill finished 31st rather than 40th. Grade: C-


32. Chase Elliott, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The rookie is now 2-for-2 at Daytona. Two races, two wrecks. This one wasn't his fault. The Big One did him in. Grade: C


33. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing.
DiBenedetto also was collected in the Big One. He returned to the track and avoided a fifth DNF in his past eight starts. Grade: C


34. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. McMurray was at the epicenter of the Big One. He was running eighth when he came down the track and made just enough contact with the side of teammate Kyle Larson's No. 42 to cut his left tire. McMurray said that caused him to lose control of his car. Jimmie Johnson then tapped McMurray from behind, and just like that, half the field was in pieces. Grade: D


35. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports.
If you're not skipping around, you just read Jamie McMurray and know what happened to Johnson. Saturday's race was Jimmie's second DNF 35th-place finish in the past four races (Pocono). Grade: C-


36. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Three words: The Big One. Grade: C


37. Brian Scott, No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports.
Scott had the wildest ride of drivers caught up in the big wreck. His car ended up atop Kevin Harvick's Chevrolet. Grade: C


38. Regan Smith, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing.
Three words: See Paul Menard. Grade: C


39. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick spent a lot of time running in the back, looking to avoid the Big One. Turned out he didn't stay back there long enough. Grade: C


40. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Buescher has three DNFs this season -- in each of the three restrictor-plate races. Grade: C