There are expected to be eight cars competing for the four open spots in this year's 41-car Daytona 500 field, but two of those eight are not among the seven initially expected to be on the entry list.
RFK Racing made the surprise announcement that Corey LaJoie is set to drive a fourth car, the non-chartered (open) No. 99 Ford, next month, and Front Row Motorsports made a similarly surprising announcement that Chandler Smith is also set to drive a fourth car, the open No. 36 Ford.
Meanwhile, Richard Childress Racing are now unlikely to field the No. 33 Chevrolet, which had been a rumored open entry for Austin Hill.
Seven open cars expected/confirmed to vie for four spots:
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) January 20, 2026
40-Allgaier (JRM)
44-Yeley (NY)
62-Alfredo (Beard)
66-Mears (Garage 66)
67-Heim (23XI)
78-McLeod (Live Fast)
99-LaJoie (RFK) https://t.co/fyZlnzMbKv
RWR spokesman told me they won't field a second car and RCR has indicated unlikely a fourth car for Daytona. https://t.co/n96UFaI7dQ
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) January 20, 2026
LaJoie and Smith are two of five confirmed drivers set to battle for those four open spots. Justin Allgaier is set to drive the No. 40 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Anthony Alfredo is set to drive the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet, and Casey Mears is set to drive the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford.
Expected additions include J.J. Yeley in the No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet, Corey Heim in the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota, and B.J. McLeod in the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet.
Jimmie Johnson's No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota, while it is technically an open car, will not play a direct role in determining which drivers get the four open spots. Johnson was granted the Open Exemption Provisional, effectively meaning that the car is being treated as a 37th chartered entry in terms of being guaranteed a starting spot.
Two open cars are still set to qualify via single-car qualifying speeds, and two more are still set to qualify via their results in the two America 250 Florida Duel races.
No Richard Childress Racing car for Austin Hill in Daytona 500
Although a third Richard Childress Racing car was expected to attempt to qualify for this year's race, its omission from the entry list is not super surprising.
The team haven't run an extra car for the Daytona 500 since 2019, and with the surprise confirmations that RFK Racing and Front Row Motorsports plan to run a fourth car, simply getting into the race would have been a much taller task than initially expected.
Hill himself, despite his superspeedway success in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, was also notably unsuccessful in his attempt to qualify for the race back in 2023 with Beard Motorsports.
Likewise, Rick Ware Racing, which switched from Ford to Chevrolet and announced a new technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing over the offseason, will not be fielding a second car for the 2026 race either.
Additionally, Trackhouse Racing, which fielded a fourth car in the race for the first time in 2025, had already been ruled out from doing so again this February. Tricon Garage also have no plans to return after making their Daytona 500 debut in 2025, and Team AmeriVet have been ruled out for the third consecutive year as well.
Fox Sports 1 is set to provide live coverage of Daytona 500 single-car qualifying and the America 250 Florida Duel races on Wednesday, February 11 (8:15 p.m. ET) and Thursday, February 12 (7:00 p.m. ET), respectively, while Fox is set to provide live coverage of the Daytona 500 itself beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 15. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action from the "World Center of Racing"!