Two NASCAR teams from lower national divisions made their Cup Series debuts by attempting to qualifying for the 67th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in 2025, and both of them were successful in their qualifying attempts.
Martin Truex Jr. locked himself and TRICON Garage into the race with his qualifying speed, and Justin Allgaier locked himself and JR Motorsports into the race with his Duel result.
Neither TRICON Garage nor JR Motorsports returned to the Cup Series the rest of the year.
TRICON Garage not returning for 2026 Daytona 500
While JR Motorsports are again set to field the No. 40 Chevrolet for Allgaier as he attempts to make another Daytona 500 start following an impressive ninth place finish in 2025, TRICON Garage have opted not to return after Truex was knocked out in an early crash 12 months ago.
TRICON Garage's focus remains squarely on the Truck Series, where they won the 2025 championship with Corey Heim. Kaden Honeycutt has since replaced Heim, who is set to run part-time with 23XI Racing in the Cup Series this year, while Tanner Gray and Gio Ruggiero are both set to be back full-time. Toni Breidinger will also not return, and her entry is now one of the team's two part-time entries.
As for Truex, he had initially planned on running more than just the Daytona 500 a year ago, which was the first year following his retirement as a full-time driver. However, he hasn't been back in any NASCAR national series since, and there are no indications that that will change in 2026.
This year's Daytona 500 entry list still features 45 cars, just like the 2025 edition, and can be found here.
Fox Sports 1 is set to air live coverage of both Daytona 500 qualifying and the two America 250 Florida Duel races on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. ET and Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET, respectively. Fox is set to air live coverage of the Daytona 500 itself on Sunday beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action!