140 characters or less: Great race ended with tragedy. Many fans hurt, nearly as many cars wrecked. Tony Stewart wins, but doesn’t celebrate. Pray hard for injured.

Highlight of race: Most of the race, but the last lap. Tony Stewart steals another NNS Daytona race, which is popular with many fans. 

Lowlight of race: Larson. Fence. Race shrapnel. Hurt fans. Total miscommunication of information. Over-zealous reporters.

Handsome Boy Modeling School Stud of the Race: Kyle Larson, who emerged uninjured from his destroyed racecar after hitting the fence. But his real accomplishment is running mightily in the draft and actually leading a lap in his NNS debut.

North Korean Missile Dud of the Race: Engines. Big money contenders Danica Patrick, Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, and Trevor Bayne all faced engine woes through the day. NNS cars still tandem race and that causes overheating and extra stress to power plants.

“Where Did He Come From?” Dark Horse Trophy: Eric McClure, injured in a Talladega crash last April, finished 8^th. This is his first career top 10 in any NASCAR race (201 in NNS and three in NSCS). And he charged into the top 10 late in the race and actually led a lap – meaning he did not simply just benefit from the late crashes. Honorable mention goes to Robert Richardson Jr., who finished 9^th.

The Head Scratcher Crown: Kasey Kahne, for missing his pit stall at least twice. He shares this award with Juan Carlos Blum, a rookie driver for Rick Ware Racing, who spun out by himself inexplicably after Scott Lagasse Jr. spun. Blum got scourged on the radio for tearing up his racecar so early in the race and finishing 37^th. Blum also lost the draft very early in the first run, proving he has much to learn in these cars.

Celebrity Driver Ghost Story: Jeremy Clements, who didn’t wreck or blow a motor. This small team has strung together a few full NNS seasons and plate races are often the best time for these teams to shine. Not so for Clements – the No. 51 dropped an oil line and dropped out early.

Lug Notes:

- The Larson crash into the catch fence at the start-finish line was spectacular and horrific. The impact showered shrapnel over a large group of fans, injuring over two dozen. As of the publishing of this article, unofficial word is that the critically injured are at the very least stabilized. Pray for them, their families, the psyche of the drivers facing the realities of their job, and for NASCAR officials to have insight in how to alleviate this problem in the future. Carl Edwards at Talladega in 2009 was bad, but this is way worse. And this was just the NNS race. The new Gen-6 cars in the Sprint Cup race go faster and are much less predictable. Fans will still sit near the fences (assuming the race doesn’t get rained out) and injuries, God forbid, could happen again. This is always a risk at any race, especially plate races, where cars are most likely to get airborne.

- The next question lies in what NASCAR and tracks should do about this problem. NASCAR reinforced and redesigned fencing after Edwards’ incident at Talladega in 2009. But that does not change the fact that fences have holes, you know, so fans can see the race. The next logical option would be to eliminate 10-20 rows of seating to decrease the chance of debris hitting fans, as I suggested back in 2009. But tracks do not want to eliminate their priciest real estate (even though every track has trouble selling out these days and those fans likely would buy seats in another spot). The third option is to slow the cars down. But even short track cars can get airborne and spray debris. And NASCAR put restrictor plates on cars in the first place after Bobby Allison hit the Talladega fence in 1988. Fans can get hit with baseballs and injured and debris can hit NASCAR fans and possibly kill them. More drivers get killed than baseball players during games. A fast sport means hitting things harder and getting hurt worse. No matter what happens, someone can still get hurt. But NASCAR needs to do something and should have done more four years ago.

- To shift focus a bit – one has to be excited about the potency of the NNS this season. So many fully-sponsored teams makes for a deep field to run for the title. Don’t expect one driver to win nine races this year, like the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers seem to every year.

- NASCAR shaved the number of entries in NNS race down from 43 to 40 this season. That is a good thing. While it does mean less teams get a chance in each race, it does cut down on the number of teams ballooning their start-and-park efforts to three and four teams. Seeing only one park in this race was refreshing.

- In this dog eat dog barf world of having to report every iota of information everyone else reports – and do it first, we need to remember the importance of accuracy. I have failed on many occasions to be accurate, because I jumped to a conclusion too quickly or made a mistake. Today’s debate over how many were hurt, how critical, where they were transported to, and other details should not have been a debate. People came close to reporting a death, when no official has reported that. The number of people hurt jumped from a sure number of four to a sure number of 12, to a sure number of 28. And it keeps getting bigger, and then a little smaller, and then a little more big. If there is too much doubt, just go with the official count. But the officials in this instance really messed up, too. They waited almost three hours to speak. The officials at Halifax Health and Medical Center in Daytona gave vague numbers and descriptions to the media in the crash’s immediate aftermath. And social media is the catalyst for it all. This web of being first and fast does not lead to being accurate. We should learn from all of this and keep in mind those affected by it. But sadly, we probably will not.

Next: Phoenix, next Saturday at 4:30 p.m. EST. The inexplicable early trip out west will likely not be near as exciting, or dangerous, as this voyage to Daytona.