NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400 takeaways: Playoff field set after thrilling finish

The NASCAR Cup Series wrapped up its regular season at the "World Center of Racing" on Saturday night with Ryan Blaney picking up his second win of the season in a thrilling finish.

Here are three takeaways from the regular-season finale:

Blaney surges late for second Daytona win

He may not have been toward the front with two laps remaining, but Blaney maneuvered his way to the front from 13th with three laps to go, getting a huge run off turn 4 to outlast a bunch of hungry drivers searching for a walk-off win to make the playoffs.

Daniel Suarez (second), Justin Haley (third), Cole Custer (fourth) and Erik Jones (fifth) were each in search of their first win of the season. Instead, Blaney played spoiler and recorded his sixth consecutive top 10 to enter the playoffs with as much momentum as anyone.

Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman nab final playoff spots 

Despite sustaining front-end damage during the race's second caution on Lap 19, Reddick, who finished 21st, locked up his playoff spot when Alex Bowman retired from the race after being involved in the biggest crash of the night on Lap 27.

Despite some near wins from several drivers below him in the standings, Bowman claimed the 16th and final spot in nerve-wracking fashion. It was not the smoothes t of nights for either driver, but both find themselves among the 16-driver playoff field that will compete for a championship.

Early 'Big One' crushes playoff hopes for some drivers

It did not take long for calamity to strike on Saturday night at Daytona. The Lap 27 "Big One," which started when Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch made contact entering the tri-oval, claimed multiple drivers early in the race.

As Wallace came back up the track after spinning toward the infield grass, he made head-on contact with Austin Cindric and also collected Denny Hamlin, two-time Daytona winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bowman, among others. Most of the big crashes at Daytona tend to take place in the closing laps, but the aggression was palpable from the drop of the green flag with one last shot to make the playoffs.