For just the fourth time in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, a race is set to feature 40 cars. And despite NASCAR's struggles to fill entry lists in recent years, Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway is set to be the third consecutive race at the track to feature a full field, dating back to the 2025 playoff race.
There was just one non-chartered (open) car on the entry list this past weekend at Phoenix Raceway, and that open car, the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota, isn't even set to run Sunday's 188-lap race around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked oval in Lincoln, Alabama.
Corey Heim, who has driven that car 12 times this year, is set to return in two weeks for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
4 cars added for Talladega NASCAR Cup race
Four part-time teams that have fielded open cars sporadically throughout the 2026 season are all set to do so this weekend, and all of them are locked into the race.
Joey Gase is set to make his first start since the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway and drive the No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet, which was most recently entered for B.J. McLeod two weekends ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Casey Mears and Daniel Dye, whose most recent Cup Series appearances also came in that Daytona 500, are set to be back in the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet, respectively.
And then there is Gray Gaulding, whose start at Charlotte two weekends ago marked his first Cup Series start since June 2023. He had planned on competing in the Daytona regular season finale but was ultimately the driver who failed to qualify.
Back in April at Talladega, it was Mears who failed to qualify due to owner points, since qualifying was canceled and the metric set the 40-car starting lineup. NASCAR does have the ability to expand races to feature 41 cars, as they have done for the Daytona 500 in recent years, but that is based on the pre-approval of an Open Exemption Provisional. Nobody has applied for that for a race other than the Daytona 500.
Sunday's YellaWood 500 is set to be shown live on NBC from Talladega Superspeedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the final three races on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series playoff schedule!
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