NASCAR: 3 cars without drivers for the Daytona 500

Among confirmed entries for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500, three are still without confirmed drivers.

Multiple Daytona 500 confirmations earlier this week have brought the entry total to 41 for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season opener, meaning that at least one driver will fail to qualify for the Great American Race next month.

Five of these 41 entries are non-chartered entries, and only four non-chartered entries will lock into the 40-car field for the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona International Speedway oval in Daytona Beach, Florida. All five of those entries have confirmed drivers.

However, there are still three confirmed entries that do not have confirmed drivers for this race: the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet, the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford, and the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford.

Because all three of these NASCAR Cup Series entries are chartered entries, they are all locked into the Daytona 500 no matter who ends up behind the wheel.

Live Fast Motorsports co-owner B.J. McLeod is likely to get the nod to drive the No. 78 Chevrolet, just as he has in each of the last two Daytona 500s since the McLeod and Matt Tifft-owned team entered the Cup Series. In fact, the only oval races he has missed since the team entered the sport are the dirt races at Bristol Motor Speedway.

As for the two Rick Ware Racing entries, the No. 51 Ford appears likely to have Cody Ware back behind the wheel. Ware, who competed full-time in the Cup Series for the first time last year, could very well be confirmed as the 34th full-time driver for the 2023 season.

Even if he only competes part-time, it is unlikely that anybody else will be behind the wheel of the No. 51 Ford in the Daytona 500.

As for the No. 15 Ford, it’s anybody’s guess. David Ragan, Garrett Smithley, and J.J. Yeley are seen as the most likely candidates to pilot this entry in the Daytona 500, but Rick Ware Racing haven’t announced anything about their 2023 plans, aside from the fact that they now have a technical alliance with RFK Racing instead of Stewart-Haas Racing.

Single-car qualifying for the Daytona 500 is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 15, followed by the Bluegreen Vacations Duels on Thursday, February 16. The race itself is set to be broadcast live from Daytona International Speedway on Fox beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 19.