There were seven changes to the NASCAR Cup Series entry list from the 2026 season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway to the season's second race at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) this past weekend, with all seven being related to cars that were included at Daytona no longer being included at Atlanta.
The only two non-chartered (open) cars that ran Sunday's overtime-extended 271-lap Autotrader 400 around the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) Hampton, Georgia oval were the No. 44 NY Racing Chevrolet and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet.
The No. 44 car was driven by J.J. Yeley after he failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, and the No. 78 car was driven by B.J. McLeod after he competed in the "Great American Race" for the first time since 2023.
This weekend at COTA, there have been three changes.
The first two were to be expected: the No. 44 Chevrolet and the No. 78 Chevrolet are not on the entry list for Sunday's 95-lap DuraMAX Grand Prix at the 17-turn, 2.4-mile (3.862-kilometer) Circuit of the Americas road course in Austin, Texas. Both Yeley and McLeod crashed out at Atlanta.
The only other change is the addition of a car that many had expected to compete at Daytona but was ultimately left off of the entry list, and that is the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Reigning O'Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Jesse Love, who made his first five Cup Series starts a year ago, is set to make his Cup Series road course debut this weekend. He owns two career sixth place finishes at COTA in the O'Reilly Series in two starts, although the 2024 race was contested on the track's full 20-turn, 3.41-mile (5.488-kilometer) layout.
The DuraMAX Grand Prix is set to be shown live on Fox from COTA beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 1. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action from the season's first road course race!