There are four part-time non-chartered (open) cars on the entry list for Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400, the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale, at Daytona International Speedway, up from two in this past weekend's race at Richmond Raceway.
One of the two open cars from Richmond is set to return at Daytona, that being the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing.
This car has been entered five times so far this season, and Saturday's 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval is set to mark the first instance of back-to-back starts for the car since the April races at Darlington Raceway and Richmond Raceway.
But Jesse Love, who made his fifth start of the season and third of the year in the No. 33 car at Richmond, will not be back at Daytona.
Richard Childress Racing change drivers at Daytona
Austin Hill, who has made two starts behind the wheel of the No. 33 Chevrolet, is set to drive it in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 for the second year in a row.
Hill, like Love, is a full-time competitor for Richard Childress' Xfinity Series team. He made his first start of the Cup Series season at Darlington and finished in 31st, but he returned on the streets of Chicago and finished in ninth, marking the best finish for the No. 33 car since 2011.
Love's 33rd place finish at Richmond was the worst finish of the season for the No. 33 car, and it was Love's overall worst finish of the year, even including his two other starts with Beard Motorsports behind the wheel of the No. 62 Chevrolet.
The other three part-time open cars on the entry list this weekend include the No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet, the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford, and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet. Those cars are set to be driven by Joey Gase, Casey Mears, and B.J. McLeod, respectively,
NBC is set to provide live coverage of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from Daytona International Speedway starting at 7:30 p.m. ET this Saturday, August 23. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now if you have not already done so and don't miss any of the action!