Well then. That was Daytona.

Florida has been the focus of racing for over a month. From the ROLEX 24 to the Sprint Unlimited to the Budweiser Duels and the Daytona 500. The Camping World Truck Series and now XFINITY Series were thrown in as well.

The Camping World and XFINITY Series were not only the open for their seasons they played a role on race day for the “500”.

For those races, 19 year old Tyler Reddick took the win for the NCWTS NextEra Energy Resources 250. The XFINITY – Alert Today Florida 300 saw Rousch-Fenway young drivers Ryan Reed and Chris Buescher take the race win and runner up slot.

Of course it is common for Sprint Cup drivers to run in the other series. However, it was the other series’ drivers that found they had suddenly been given a ride in the Daytona 500. Oddly enough, they both found their rides in seats vacated by both of the Busch brothers.

Kurt Busch was forced out of the #41 Chevy due to allegations of domestic violence. Busch denies the claims but the courts have put the charges and ongoing restraining order on the books. NASCAR had little choice but put Busch on indefinite suspension. Team owners at Stewart-Haas had no choice either and had to either drop the #41 or find a driver with race weekend heating up. The driver in the #41 was Regan Smith, currently full time in the XFINITY Series with the #7 TaxSlayer.com Camaro with JR Motorsports. Smith has raced the Cup series previously and has a series win from Darlington.

Kyle Busch was put out of his Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Crispy M&Ms Toyota and into the hospital. Kyle was driving in the Alert Today Florida 300 (XFINITY) Saturday when a multi-car crash put him nose first at speed into one of the inner barriers. He was treated for fractured leg and foot injuries and criticisms are on concerning the situation of SAFER barriers not being in place in that area of the track. Matt Crafton, 2 time Camping World Series Champion, was called to fill the #18. While being a test driver for the Cup series he had never raced in the series. This Daytona 500 saw his first start in a car that was not built for him.

It is also noteworthy that Regan Smith was also caught in a crash in the same race that injured Kyle Busch which put his #7 car upside down in an airborne rollover back to the wheels only to be knocked around like a pinball…

So… Kurt Busch is suspended with legal trouble and XFINITY driver Regan Smith takes over. Kyle Busch is injured in the XFINITY race and Camping World driver Matt Crafton takes over. How long the Busch brothers are out is anybody’s guess. The courts can be slow and healing an injury is definitely slow.

Smith and Crafton started in the back regardless of the original qualifying order due to the driver changes. Regan Smith drove the #41 to a respectable 16th spot and Matt Crafton put the #18 over just 2 slots behind in 18th. When you consider both of them had no practice time in these cars and had no real time with the teams and crew and the cars were not built or set up with them in mind then top 20 finishes can be listed as phenomenal.

Joey Logano put Team Penske in Victory Lane with the #22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford. Logano made the front and held off a 3 wide charge in a green-white-checkered finish. Defending Sprint Cup Champion Kevin Harvick finished second and 2014 Daytona winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished third. Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson filled out the top 5.

Jeff Gordon started on the pole to start the race and his announced final season. He was out front for a race high 87 laps but was caught up in a last lap mash up that put him back in the 33rd position.

Daytona began the season with driver drama and a batch of wrecked cars. Nobody wants their cars wrecked but that is a side effect of racing. NASCAR certainly could have begun the season without some of the domestic drama issues that only reinforce the negative on those that are critical of the sport to begin with.

The season is on. Possibly with a little more baggage than usual but sports in general have taken a hit in this respect.

The next batch of races get the season into rhythm with Atlanta, Vegas, Phoenix and Fontana. Martinsville falls before Bristol this season with a side trip to Texas between them. Richmond, Talladega and Kansas get us into May and 2 weeks in Charlotte.

There is a lot going on with racing in the middle and the season has only just begun!