It is rare, but it still happens. For a NASCAR Cup Series race other than the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, there are officially more cars on the entry list than there are spots in the 40-car field, something that hasn't happened since November 2018 at Texas Motor Speedway.
A total of 41 cars are on the entry list for Sunday afternoon's 75-lap Grant Park 165 around the 12-turn, 2.2-mile (3.541-kilometer) temporary street course, officially called the Chicago Street Course, in Chicago, Illinois.
The 36 chartered cars are all locked in, and yes, the six full-time cars fielded by 23XI Racing (three cars) and Front Row Motorsports (three cars) are still considered chartered cars, even amid the ongoing antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and the fact that recent rulings have not gone their way.
This means that there are four spots left open, and there are five drivers set to battle for those four spots in Saturday's qualifying session.
The slowest of these five qualifiers is set to miss the race entirely.
The non-chartered (open) entries include the No. 13 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, which is set to be driven by Will Brown; the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, which is set to be driven by Austin Hill; the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford, which is set to be driven by Josh Bilicki; the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota, which is set to be driven by Corey Heim; and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet, which is set to be driven by Katherine Legge.
Kaulig Racing generally show well on road and street courses, and Heim literally beat all three of 23XI Racing's full-time drivers in his first start of the year at Kansas Speedway back in May. Richard Childress Racing are also a step above Garage 66 and Live Fast Motorsports, regardless of who is driving (and where).
On paper, it appears that the battle to get into the race will come down to Bilicki and Legge. Garage 66 and Live Fast Motorsports are always among the slowest teams whenever they compete, and on a challenging street course, they are both facing an uphill battle. The good news is that at least one of them won't miss out.
Grant Park 165 qualifying is set to be shown live on TruTV from the Chicago Street Course beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 5. The race itself is set to be shown live on TNT Sports beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 6.