This past Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was the first of the 2026 season to feature only the 36 chartered entries, after Richard Childress Racing were the only team to field a non-chartered (open) car in the previous races at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and Phoenix Raceway.
This coming Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway is also set to feature one open car, but it is an open car that hasn't appeared since the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
Casey Mears qualified the No. 66 Ford for the "Great American Race", ending a run of seven consecutive Daytona 500 DNQs for the Carl Long-owned team in surprise fashion. He finished that race in 32nd place, and the team haven't been back since, despite having initially planned on running the following race at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway).
Timmy Hill set to compete at Darlington
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleThis weekend, it's Timmy Hill who is set to pilot the No. 66 car, and the car is locked into the 297-lap race around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) Darlington, South Carolina, as there are only 37 cars on the entry list.
As for the rest of the entry list, there are no further changes. There was a question mark surrounding Alex Bowman's status at Hendrick Motorsports, as he has missed the past two races after being diagnosed with vertigo, but it has since been confirmed that he is set to miss at least the next three races.
As a result, Justin Allgaier, who replaced him behind the wheel of the No. 48 Chevrolet at Las Vegas, is set to be back at Darlington, so there was no change at Hendrick Motorsports this week. Allgaier is also set to drive the No. 48 car in the upcoming races at Martinsville Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway, as Bowman aims to return for the following race at Kansas Speedway in mid-April.
Fox Sports 1's live coverage of the Goodyear 400 is set begin at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 22. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action from the 2026 season's sixth race at Darlington Raceway!