At long last, 23XI Racing confirmed that Corey Heim is indeed set to run a part-time schedule behind the wheel of the No. 67 Toyota throughout the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, and that schedule is set to begin with the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, with Robinhood set to serve as Heim's primary sponsor.
The No. 67 can is the seventh confirmed non-chartered (open) car on the entry list for the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval, and two more are expected to be added.
The other six are the No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford for Chandler Smith, the No. 40 JR Motorsports Chevrolet for Justin Allgaier, the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet for Anthony Alfredo, the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford for Casey Mears, the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota for Jimmie Johnson, and the No. 99 RFK Racing Ford for Corey LaJoie.
Expected additions include the No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet for J.J. Yeley and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet for B.J. McLeod.
At least two drivers will miss the 2026 Daytona 500
Notably, Johnson is locked into the race, as he has been granted the Open Exemption Provisional. In other words, the No. 84 car is effectively being treated like a 37th chartered car in terms of being guaranteed a starting position, so that car will not have a direct impact on the battle for the four remaining open spots in what is set to be a 41-car field, rather than a 40-car field.
Two of those four open spots are set to be awarded based on speed in the single-car qualifying session, and the other two are set to be awarded based on the results of the two America 250 Florida Duel races.
With Heim's No. 67 car being the sixth confirmed open car other than Johnson's No. 84, it is now guaranteed that multiple drivers will ultimately fail to qualify for the race.
More than likely, that number will end up being four, with eight drivers expected to battle for those four spots. And it should be a competitive battle.
Who will miss the 2026 Daytona 500?
Smith is 0-for-2 in his previous Daytona 500 qualifying attempts, but with two different teams. JR Motorsports qualified a year ago with Allgaier, but that remains their only Cup Series start, making them by far the most inexperienced team on the entry list.
Alfredo failed to qualify for the race with Beard Motorsports a year ago, Garage 66 have gone 0-for-6 in Daytona 500 qualifying attempts since making their most recent Daytona 500 start in 2020, NY Racing team haven't gotten into the race since 2022, and Live Fast Motorsports have yet to qualify since selling their charter after the 2023 season.
Quite frankly, even Heim and 23XI Racing can't be considered a lock, as Heim became the first driver since 2018 to fail to qualify for a non-Daytona 500 Cup race back in July at the Chicago Street Course, despite most fans penciling him in as a lock to qualify before he was bumped out by Live Fast Motorsports and Katherine Legge.
Daytona 500 single-car qualifying is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 11, and it's set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 8:15 p.m. ET. The two Duel races are scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 12, and they are also set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 starting at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The 68th running of the Daytona 500 itself is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 15, and it is set to be shown live on Fox from Daytona International Speedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 15. Begin a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any of the action from the "World Center of Racing"!