NASCAR: 3 candidates to fill the Daytona 500 field
By Asher Fair
Daytona 500 candidates: No. 2 – Gaunt Brothers Racing
Gaunt Brothers Racing have been competing in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2017, and in all five of their seasons thus far, they have attempted to qualify for the Daytona 500.
They were able to do so successfully in 2017, 2018 and 2019 with D.J. Kennington (2017 and 2018) and Parker Kligerman (2019), but they failed to do so in 2020 and 2021 with Daniel Suarez (2020) and Ty Dillon (2021).
In 2021, they scaled back their commitment in the Cup Series after running full-time for the first time with Suarez in 2020. Last year, they ended up running eight races with four different drivers, most recently in October at Kansas Speedway with Kligerman behind the wheel of their #96 Toyota.
While it has long been expected that the Marty Gaunt-owned team will return to the series in some form for a sixth year this season, nothing has been announced about their plans — or lack thereof.
But if they do return to the Cup Series for the maiden season of the Next Gen car, expect to see them starting off by attempting to qualify for another Daytona 500.
This may be their best chance to end their two-year DNQ streak for the race as well, given the fact that we very well could see all of the open cars lock in via the Bluegreen Vacations Duels thanks to a smaller entry list.
The team’s website shows the Daytona 500 as the next race.