Two races remain on the NASCAR Cup Series playoff schedule before the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway, and the middle race of the round of 8 is scheduled to take place this Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin is already locked into the Championship 4 for the first time since 2021 after winning the round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, and seven other drivers are still eligible for the remaining three spots.
But there are 32 non-playoff drivers set to compete in Sunday's 188-lap YellaWood 500 around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Lincoln, Alabama who will also be aiming to take the checkered flag, and four of them are in part-time cars.
5 lineup changes confirmed at Talladega
At Las Vegas, there were two part-time cars on the entry list: the No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet, which was driven by J.J. Yeley, and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet, which was driven by Katherine Legge. The No. 44 car is not on the entry list at Talladega, while the No. 78 is, but not for Legge. Team owner B.J. McLeod is set to make the team's final start of the year on Sunday.
The other three part-time cars set to run at Talladega are the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet, and the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford.
Austin Hill is set to drive the No. 33 car for the fifth time this year in its eighth start. He made his most recent start at Bristol Motor Speedway five weekends ago and finished 25th.
Anthony Alfredo is set to drive the No. 62 car for the third time this year in its fifth appearance, although he did not qualify for the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. His lone start of the year also came at Talladega, where he finished 28th in April. The team most recently competed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Jesse Love finished 24th.
And last but not least, Casey Mears, who has made his first two Cup starts since 2019 with Garage 66 this year, is set to drive the No. 66 car in each of the season's final three races at Talladega, Martinsville Speedway, and Phoenix. His second start of the year at Daytona in August produced his top result since 2016, a 29th place effort.
Garage 66 have made 14 starts (15 appearances including Daytona 500 DNQ) so far this year, and Mears is set to run that number to 17 by the end of the year.
Live coverage of Sunday's YellaWood 500 is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 19 from Talladega Superspeedway. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action from the high banks of NASCAR's largest oval!