Gray Gaulding, who made his first appearance in any NASCAR national series race since August2023 when he drove for Mike Harmon Racing in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway back in April, initially planned on making his first Cup Series start since June 2023 back in August at Daytona International Speedway.
But Gaulding, driving the No. 66 Ford for Carl Long's Garage 66 (formerly MBM Motorsports), was the only driver on the entry list who ultimately failed to qualify for the regular season finale, as there were five drivers going for four open spots in the 40-car field.
However, he officially made his Cup Series return and ended his 124-race absence this past weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, also behind the wheel of the No. 66 car. He was unfortunately involved a late incident that knocked him out of the race, resulting in a 36th place DNF. It was his first Cup Series DNF since the May 2020 race at Bristol.
Gray Gaulding, Garage 66 not competing in NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
Garage 66 plan to run two more races this year, and while a driver has not yet been named for the race at Talladega Superspeedway next weekend, Gaulding's return has already been confirmed for the following Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway.
But the No. 66 Ford is not on the entry list for this weekend's 312-lap race around the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) Phoenix Raceway oval.
The only non-chartered (open) car on the entry list for the Freeway Insurance 500 is the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota for Corey Heim. Based on Heim's original 12-race schedule for 2026, 23XI Racing did not initially plan on running the No. 67 car for Heim in this race after he competed at Charlotte.
The only other open car to compete at Charlotte, the No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet, is also not on this weekend's entry list after B.J. McLeod drove it a week ago.
Sunday's Freeway Insurance 500 is set to be shown live on USA Network from Phoenix Raceway starting at 3:00 p.m. ET. Don't miss any of the action from the seventh race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series postseason schedule!
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