Editor's note: The contents of this article have been modified from their original state to reflect Kyle Busch's tragic passing.
Every single non-chartered (open) NASCAR Cup Series team opted against competing in the All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway, and justifiably so.
Only the 36 chartered cars competed, which hadn't been true for a Cup race since the mid-March points race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
This weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, however, three open cars are on the entry list for the 400-lap Coca-Cola 600 around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Concord, North Carolina oval.
4 driver changes confirmed for Coca-Cola 600
Garage 66, which most recently competed in the road course points race at Watkins Glen International two weekends ago, are set to field the No. 66 Ford for Timmy Hill, who most recently competed at Darlington Raceway in March. Hill hasn't competed in a Cup Series oval race at track other than Darlington since November 2021. Josh Bilicki drove for the team at Watkins Glen.
23XI Racing most recently fielded the No. 67 Toyota at Texas Motor Speedway, where Corey Heim led 69 laps before crashing out late. Heim, the organization's development driver, has made three Cup Series starts so far this season, in addition to his four Craftsman Truck Series starts with Tricon Garage.
Live Fast Motorsports, like Garage 66, competed at Watkins Glen, and they are once again set to field the No. 78 Chevrolet for Katherine Legge. Legge is set to run this race as a part of her attempt to complete the Memorial Day Double. Only five other drivers have ever run both the Indy 500 and the Coke 600 on the same day.
Richard Childress Racing had initially planned on fielding the No. 33 Chevrolet for O'Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Jesse Love this weekend, but they opted against doing so before the entry list was released.
However, they were forced into an unexpected driver change when Kyle Busch was hospitalized with a severe illness, so their other full-time O'Reilly Series driver, Austin Hill, was tabbed to drive the No. 8 Chevrolet.
It was later announced that Busch had tragically passed away. NASCAR has confirmed that there are no plans to change the Charlotte race schedule. The team have also renumbered the No. 8 car to No. 33, out of respect for Busch, and have noted that the No. 8 remains reserved for his 11-year-old son Brexton, should he ever climb the ranks to the Cup Series.
To ensure clarity, and to prevent any misinterpretation due to the timing of this article, we want to reiterate that the decision on the original No. 33 car came before Busch's health became a publicly known factor.
Most importantly, our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the Busch family as they navigate this unspeakable tragedy.
Amazon Prime Video's live coverage of the Coca-Cola 600 is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, May 24 from Charlotte Motor Speedway.
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