Coke Zero 400: Full video highlights from Daytona

Watch all the key moments from the Coke Zero 400 as Dale Earnhardt Jr. chases one more NASCAR Cup Series victory at Daytona International Speedway.

The July 4 weekend race under the lights at Daytona International Speedway is a summer tradition NASCAR fans know well. This year, though, the Coke Zero 400 could be extra special.

It’s the last Daytona appearance for Dale Earnhardt Jr. as a full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver, and depending on his plans for the future, it could be his last ride at DIS, full stop. He’s won there four times in the past, including the last time he sat on the pole, as he did Saturday night.

Along with the general popularity of any Dale Jr. win, a victory in the Coke Zero 400 would assure him of being around and in the running during the inaugural Cup Series playoffs. That would be an incredible end to his driving career and something many people would want to see.

Still, there are a lot of strong cars for him to hold off, arguably even more at a restrictor plate track than anywhere else. Follow along with full Coke Zero 400 video highlights, as we’ll add to this post often as the race plays out.

Earnhardt led the field to the green flag, but he didn’t stay there long. Chase Elliott, who also started on the front row, managed to take the lead and officially lead Lap 1.

Brad Keselowski, the race winner in 2016, managed to take the lead from Elliott not long after, and he was in front when the first caution flew thanks to trouble for Cole Whitt.

With the laps counting down to end Stage 1, Dale Jr. made a valiant charge for the lead, edging by Keselowski briefly with help from Ryan Blaney’s push. He couldn’t keep the 2 behind him, though, and Keselowski earned the stage win.

Unfortunately for Blaney, he had issues with hit pit stop at the end of Stage 1, shooting through his pit box, deciding to abort the stop and then running into the incoming Joey Logano.

Neither car was badly damaged, but it was an incident to potentially file away for later in the race.

The next caution came out for something no one wanted to see: Earnhardt Jr. in the wall.

That didn’t end Junior’s night, but it did essentially put the kibosh on any thoughts of a storybook ending to his time at Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt said on the radio that he thought he might have had a right-side tire go down, and his 88 was definitely the worse for wear after the impact with the wall.

The next incident had even more big names involved. After Kyle Busch got loose in front of brother Kurt, he spun and caused a chain reaction in the field that led to damage to Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Austin Dillon, just to name a few.

Kyle Busch seemed to point the finger at Michael McDowell for starting what we’ll call the “Semi-Big One,” but the important thing is that all involved looked like they came out of the wreck uninjured.

With the field shaken up by that accident, we ended up with Joe Gibbs Racing (still winless as a team in 2017) teammates fighting for the lead. In the end, it was Matt Kenseth taking the green and white checkered flag to end Stage 2.

Brendan Gaughan brought out the next caution, ending a pretty nice run when he got loose and hit the wall pretty hard with his right side. But the most interesting part: Earnhardt Jr. was the first car a lap down and got back on the lead lap …

Want more big names involved in wrecks? How about Chase Elliott and Trevor Bayne?

Bayne’s team seemed particularly bummed considering how strong Roush Fenway has looked at restrictor plate races this season.

But there was a worse wreck not long after, when Kevin Harvick blew a tire and spun, collecting Keselowski … and sadly, Dale Jr.

Junior had to get checked out at the infield care center before the NBC Sports crew could talk to him. But you know he had to be crushed by his poor luck at what could be his last Coke Zero 400.

After he got a clean bill of health, Earnhardt Jr. wore his heart on his sleeve when talking about the love he’s been getting from the fans.

Junior’s team also tried their hardest to get the 88 back into condition to continue.

Kasey Kahne spun through the infield a short time later to bring out the 11th caution of the night. The record for any Daytona race is 16 at the 2011 Daytona 500, but the record for the July race is 13.

After some exciting jockeying for the lead that involved drivers as varied as Daniel Suarez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Blaney and even Ty Dillon, the Coke Zero 400 proved it still had time for another “Big One.”

Kyle Larson, no stranger to wild rides at Daytona, tried to come up when there was no room and ended up with all four tires off the ground, somehow hopping his 42 right over Stenhouse’s 17.

Alas, Blaney was not so lucky, nor were Kurt Busch and a few other drivers collected in that wreck.

David Ragan, who hadn’t won in 150 races, found himself in the lead when yet another collision brought out a caution and forced overtime. With Ty Dillon and A.J. Allmendinger also in the hunt, the chances of a first time 2017 winner appeared pretty high.

In the end, though, most of the field made it through the final two overtime laps without wrecking, and Stenhouse came across the start/finish line first.

https://twitter.com/NASCARonNBC/status/881354577982873602

Unlikely as it would have been going into the 2017 season, Stenhouse now has two victories and is a bona fide championship contender, though he certainly won’t be a favorite. But maybe he can carry the torch on plate tracks, the one that Earnhardt is almost ready to pass.