As far as “highlights” from California Speedway, man that was a hard lick that David Reutimann took. Pretty hard to watch the in-car camera footage, too, especially at first when he was slumped over the steering wheel, not even moving.

Congrats to Brian Vickers for getting Toyota its first top 10 finish and for leading a few laps along the way.

‘Tis a shame that Happy had a tire go down there at the end, as it was shaping up to be another close finish the way he’d been reeling Kenseth in right before the last caution.

It’ll be interesting to see just how “part-time” Mark Martin’s schedule remains throughout the season, especially if he continues to sit near the top of the points standings. He can claim all he wants that he’ll stick to the plan of driving a limited schedule, but I’d bet you more than a few shiny American dollars that all of that will go out the window if he’s still in the hunt. And I don’t think anyone would blame him a bit if he waffled, especially given how well he’s running so far.

• Robbie Reiser, crew chief for Kenseth, and Kenny Francis, crew chief for Kahne, were kicked out of Daytona International Speedway and suspended four races.
• Rodney Childers, crew chief for Riggs, and Josh Brown, crew chief for Sadler, were suspended for two races and will all miss Sunday’s race.
• Kahne and Kenseth were docked 50 drivers points apiece, while Riggs and Sadler lost 25 each.
• Reiser and Francis also were fined $50,000 each, while Childers and Brown were fined $25,000 each.

The suspensions were expected and are in line with Chad Knaus’ suspension last year for similar shenanigans, but docking the drivers points before the season even has started is unprecedented and guaranteed to raise some eyebrows.

I also apparently wasn’t paying much attention as I thought it was only Kahne and Kenseth that had run afoul of the authorities, but apparently Evernham Motorsports as a whole was looking for a little extra edge, as Sadler and Riggs also got hit with penalties.

As far as lasting effects, the suspensions likely won’t matter much, as Jimmie Johnson proved last year in Knaus’ absence, but losing drivers points definitely stings, especially for Sadler, who is more likely to be on the bubble of making the Chase than Kenseth or Kahne.

Obviously it’s way too early to know, as anything and everything will happen, but it’ll be interesting to see if those docked points ultimately play any role in who does or doesn’t make the Chase.

None of the stories I’ve seen so far mention any penalties for Michael Waltrip, who may have managed to grin and aw-shucks his way out of trouble, despite mysterious substances being found on his engine manifold.