NASCAR AMERICA: SCAN ALL: DAYTONA

A look at the sight and sounds of Daytona, including Brad Keselowski's tight finish to get him the victory.

NASCAR America: Explaining the ‘Big One’ at Daytona

NASCAR America analyzes the crash that damaged 22 cars on Lap 90 of the Coke Zero 400, explaining how it happened and what implications it had on the drivers and the rest of the race.

NASCAR America: Brad Keselowski’s car was top notch in Coke Zero 400

NASCAR America examines how Brad Keselowski was able to lead a race high 115 laps on the way to winning the Coke Zero 400.

‘Gremlins’ keep Dale Earnhardt Jr. from competitive Coke Zero 400

For the third restrictor-plate race in a row, Dale Earnhardt Jr. factored into the outcome by not being a factor at all.

The four-time winner at Daytona International Speedway never appeared in the top five after starting 16th in Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 and eventually finished 21st.

But at least he finished.

Earnhardt had three plate race wins (not counting exhibition events) in the last two seasons with the now famously named chassis “Amelia.” But the defending Coke Zero 400 winner had failed to finish the Daytona 500 or the May Talladega race after wrecking on his own in each race.

Earnhardt was once again seen as a favorite entering Saturday night, but the driver tweeted Sunday that “gremlins” kept his No. 88 Chevrolet from being able to compete in the larger draft and leading to a “miserable night.”

Earnhardt’s effort wasn’t helped when he received minor damage from the Lap 90 crash that included 22 cars.

With Saturday night’s result, Earnhardt has failed to finish in the top 1o in eight of the last nine races. He finished second at Pocono Raceway. However, Earnhardt was the highest-placing Hendrick Motorsports driver in the race. Chase Elliott (32nd) and Jimmie Johnson (35th) were eliminated in the Lap 90 crash. Kasey Kahne, who was also involved, finished 30th, 38 laps down.

With nine races left before the start of Chase for the Sprint Cup, Earnhardt is currently 13th in the points standings, 30 above the cutoff for the Chase.

Earnhardt and his team now hope they can turn their season around next Saturday at Kentucky Speedway. In his five starts at the 1.5-mile track that was repaved earlier this year, Earnhardt has two top fives (2012, 2014) and one pole (2013).

Video: Trevor Bayne earns best finish since 2011 Daytona 500 win

Trevor Bayne led Roush Fenway Racing’s effort in the Coke Zero 400 with a third-place finish. All three Roush cars finished in the top 10 after Greg Biffle started the night on the pole. Bayne earned his best result since he won the 2011 Daytona 500.

NASCAR video: Remembering Austin Dillon’s horrific crash last year at Daytona

Although Austin Dillon walked away from a horrific wreck at the end of last year’s Coke Zero 400, NASCAR saw that more improvements could be made in safety.

And that’s just what NASCAR did, launching a dozen safety initiatives after Dillon’s wreck.

We revisit Dillon’s wild ride.

Winning paint scheme design for Kasey Kahne’s Coke Zero 400 car

Last week Kasey Kahne and Great Clips held a vote for fans to choose what paint scheme the Hendrick Motorsports’ driver would have for the Coke Zero 400 in July at Daytona International Speedway.

The vote was among four designs created by patients at the Seattle Children’s Hospital as part of its “Strong Against Cancer” program.

Kahne later revealed the winner of the contest, which was designed by an 8-year-old named Noelia from White Center, a suburb of Seattle. The paint scheme can be seen on July 2 on NBC.

Below is how the car will look in the race and the original design.