It came down to a last-lap pass in his Bluegreen Vacations Duel race last year, but seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and two-time Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson did indeed manage to lock himself into the 66th annual running of the "Great American Race" at Daytona International Speedway.
But the reality of the situation was perhaps a bit unexpected: Johnson nearly failed to qualify for the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval.
Johnson drove the No. 84 Toyota for Legacy Motor Club, the team he co-owns, at Daytona in both 2023 and 2024. Both times, the car was a non-chartered (open) entry, and open entries are not locked into the 40-car Daytona 500 field like the 36 chartered entries are.
The No. 84 Toyota was once again recently confirmed as an open entry for this coming weekend's race, and with nine open entries confirmed, Johnson is once again at risk of missing the race entirely, just like he nearly did last year before passing NY Racing Team's J.J. Yeley on the final lap of their Duel race.
Jimmie Johnson not locked into Daytona 500
The other confirmed open cars on this year's entry list include the No. 01 Rick Ware Racing Ford for Corey LaJoie, No. 40 JR Motorsports Chevrolet for Justin Allgaier, the No. 44 NY Racing Team for Yeley, the No. 56 Tricon Garage Toyota for Martin Truex Jr., the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet for Anthony Alfredo, the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford for Chandler Smith, the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet for B.J. McLeod, and the No. 91 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet for Helio Castroneves.
The fastest two drivers (among open entries) lock into the race via the single-car qualifying session, and two others lock in by being the top finishers (again, among open cars) in the two Bluegreen Vacations Duel races. If a driver manages to "lock in" twice, the next fastest driver from the single-car session would lock in.
There is a chance that the field could expand to 41 cars, but only for Castroneves. The four-time Indy 500 winner has been given a "world-class driver" provisional. He can still qualify regularly and take one of the four open spots, in which case the field would remain capped at 40 cars, but if those four spots go to four other drivers, Castroneves would still be locked in, thus expanding the field to 41 cars.
No such provisional exists for anybody else, so Johnson could once again find himself locked in an intense battle just to qualify for the race.
Single-car qualifying for the 67th annual Daytona 500 is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 12 (8:15 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1), and the two Bluegreen Vacations Duel races are scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 13 (7:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1). The "Great American Race" is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 16 (2:30 p.m. ET on Fox). Begin a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action from the "World Center of Racing"!