Unlike a year ago, when Trackhouse Racing's Helio Castroneves was granted the world-class provisional but was still given the ability to lock himself into the Daytona 500 field either on qualifying speed or Duel result, Legacy Motor Club's Jimmie Johnson has been granted this year's provisional and the field has been expanded from 40 to 41 cars, regardless of his qualifying speed or Duel result.
Because of the provisional, officially the Open Exemption Provisional, his No. 84 Toyota is effectively being treated as a chartered car in terms of being locked into the race, meaning that 37 cars, not just the 36 true chartered entries, are guaranteed a place in the starting lineup.
Two non-chartered (open) cars are still set to lock in on qualifying speed, and two more are still set to lock in on Duel result, ensuring that for just the second time since 1993, the Daytona 500 is set to feature exactly 41 cars.
Aside from Johnson's car, three other part-time cars have been confirmed on the entry list thus far: the No. 40 JR Motorsports Chevrolet for Justin Allgaier, the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford for Casey Mears, and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet for B.J. McLeod.
Four more are expected to be added, which would set up a seven-car battle for the four open spots in the single-qualifying session and then the two Duel races to set the full 41-car starting lineup.
Here's a look at the four expected additions between now and the start of Speedweeks.
No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Richard Childress Racing haven't run an extra Daytona 500 entry since 2019, but O'Reilly Auto Parts Series superspeedway ace Austin Hill is expected to get the nod to drive the No. 33 Chevrolet this time around. His lone Daytona 500 attempt thus far resulted in a DNQ with Beard Motorsports back in 2023.
No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet
NY Racing Team have not successfully qualified for the Daytona 500 since the late Greg Biffle competed in the race in 2022, but expect J.J. Yeley to be back for another attempt behind the wheel of the No. 44 Chevrolet after missing out in 2024 and 2025.
No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet
Speaking of Beard Motorsports, we have the No. 62 Chevrolet, which Anthony Alfredo qualified in 2024 but was unable to qualify in 2025. The No. 62 car hasn't missed back-to-back Daytona 500s since the team began competing in 2017. Will Alfredo get the nod, or will the team turn to Jesse Love, who competed in select Cup races in the entry a year ago?
No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota
With Tricon Garage unlikely to return for a second Daytona 500 attempt and reigning Truck Series Corey Heim expected to compete in the race, 23XI Racing is the only team that makes sense. Heim is a 23XI Racing development driver who ran four Cup races for the organization in 2025, and a partial schedule is expected again in 2026 as he aims for a full-time seat in 2027.
The 68th annual Daytona 500 is set to be shown live on Fox from Daytona International Speedway at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 15. Single-car qualifying and the America 250 Florida Duel races are scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 11, and Thursday, February 12, respectively, with Fox Sports 1 set to provide live coverage of both.