Denny Hamlin leads the NASCAR Cup standings following a dramatic Daytona race weekend.

In the final standings, the No. 60 owner's points are five more than Ryan Preece's driver points going into the reset, highlighting a narrow edge between owner and driver standings.
Shane van Gisbergen was bumped from the Chase by Ryan Preece’s first Cup Series win, moving Preece into the Chase at van Gisbergen's expense.
Kyle Busch had accumulated 217 points before his tragic passing, and NASCAR decided not to classify him in the weekly driver standings after his death.
DraftKings' Daytona base-score projections explicitly exclude Dominator points projections, separating on-track scoring potential from leading-lap and margin bonuses.
The Daytona projections feature projected finish ranges categorized as High, Medium-High, Medium, and Low to guide fantasy decisions.
Denny Hamlin leads the NASCAR Cup Series standings after the Daytona race, holding a 25-point edge over second place Yahoo Sports. The top 16 drivers qualify for the Chase playoff format, and they are bunched tightly together — just 100 points separate the leader from the 16th-place driver, Ryan Preece Yahoo Sports.
Ryan Preece earned his first Cup Series win at Daytona, which bumped him into the Chase and knocked out Shane van Gisbergen Yahoo Sports. Austin Cindric and the No. 2 Ford also locked up a Chase spot with a sixth-place finish Speedway Media.
Ryan Preece secured his first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Daytona, a stunning breakthrough that earned him the 16th and final spot in the Chase Yahoo Sports. His win came at the expense of Shane van Gisbergen, who finished outside the 16-driver playoff field. The victory illustrates how single races can shift the entire playoff landscape in NASCAR's competitive format.
With just 100 points separating first place from 16th in the Chase, the regular season has ended with an unusually tight championship battle Yahoo Sports. Denny Hamlin's 25-point cushion over second place is modest by historical standards. This compression means every driver in the field has a legitimate shot at advancing deeper into the playoffs.
Austin Cindric and the No. 2 Menards/Maytag Ford team locked up their Chase position with a sixth-place finish in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 Speedway Media. The result caps a regular season that put multiple contenders within striking distance of the championship battle ahead.
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