There are nine non-chartered (open) cars on the entry list for the 68th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway leading into Wednesday night's qualifying session and Thursday's two America 250 Florida Duel races, bringing the entry total to 45.
On paper, Cup Series races are limited to 40 cars, which would imply that these nine open cars are battling for the final four spots in the starting lineup. However, NASCAR has expanded this year's race to 41 cars via the Open Exemption Provisional.
The 2025 provisional was given to Trackhouse Racing and Helio Castroneves. However, Castroneves was still given the opportunity to compete against the other drivers of open cars for the four open spots. Because he failed to lock in on speed or Duel result, the race was expanded to 41 cars. No Daytona 500 had seen exactly 41 cars since 1993.
This year, there is no flexibility, and NASCAR has effectively closed a loophole that never should have existed to begin with.
Just one Open Exemption Provisional is available in each race, and that one has gone to Legacy Motor Club and Jimmie Johnson for this year's running of the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval.
Unlike last year, this guarantees that the Daytona 500 field has been expanded from 40 cars to 41 cars. Though the No. 84 Toyota is an open car, it is effectively being treated like a 37th chartered car for the purposes of being locked into the race.
Most importantly, Johnson cannot directly impact the battle for the four open spots, and yes, there are still four open spots. The other eight open drivers, not nine, are set to battle for those four spots, with two set to be awarded by speeds in the single-car qualifying session, and the other two set to be awarded based on the results of the two Duel races.
Here are the eight open cars set to battle for those four spots.
2026 Daytona 500 open cars
Team | Car | Driver |
|---|---|---|
Front Row Motorsports | No. 36 Ford | Chandler Smith |
JR Motorsports | No. 40 Chevrolet | Justin Allgaier |
NY Racing Team | No. 44 Chevrolet | J.J. Yeley |
Beard Motorsports | No. 62 Chevrolet | Anthony Alfredo |
Garage 66 | No. 66 Ford | Casey Mears |
23XI Racing | No. 67 Toyota | Corey Heim |
Live Fast Motorsports | No. 78 Chevrolet | B.J. McLeod |
RFK Racing | No. 99 Ford | Corey LaJoie |
Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 8:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, February 11 for the live broadcast of the Daytona 500 single-car qualifying session, and tune in to Fox Sports 1 again at 7:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 12 for the live broadcast of the two America 250 Florida Duel races. Fox is set to air the Daytona 500 itself beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 15, so be sure to start a free trial of FuboTV and catch all of the action!