NASCAR: Dale Jr.'s team at risk of missing the 2025 Daytona 500?

JR Motorsports are finally set to make the move to the NASCAR Cup Series, having announced that they are set to enter the No. 40 Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway for the season-opening Daytona 500 next month. Reigning Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier is set to pilot the entry.

However, the No. 40 car is not locked into this 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval, as it is a non-chartered (open) entry and has not received any kind of a provisional spot.

The 36 chartered cars are all locked into the 40-car field, leaving four open spots. Two of those spots go to the fastest two drivers (among open cars) in the single-car qualifying, and the other two go to the top finishers (among open cars) in the two Bluegreen Vacations Duel races. Should a driver effectively lock in twice, the next fastest driver from the single-car session would be in.

There is one exception; if he manages to take one of the four spots, Trackhouse Racing's Helio Castroneves would simply take one of the four spots, and the field would remain capped at 40. But due to his "world-class driver" provisional, his No. 91 Chevrolet is locked into the field even if he doesn't, in which case the field would be expanded to 41 cars.

Either way, Allgaier's No. 40 Chevrolet isn't locked into the main event, as there are already eight non-chartered cars on the entry list.

NY Racing Team are set to enter the No. 44 Chevrolet for J.J. Yeley, Beard Motorsports are set to enter the No. 62 Chevrolet for Anthony Alfredo, and Live Fast Motorsports are set to enter the No. 78 Chevrolet.

Legacy Motor Club have also announced that they are set to enter the No. 84 Toyota for Jimmie Johnson, and Martin Truex Jr.'s No. 56 Toyota entry has officially been confirmed by Tricon Garage, with support from Joe Gibbs Racing.

Garage 66 (formerly MBM Motorsports) initially had their No. 66 Ford on the entry list for Mike Wallace, but NASCAR ruled that Wallace is ineligible to drive the car. Still, the Carl Long-owned team are set to enter the race, with Chandler Smith behind the wheel of their car.

Richard Childress Racing's No. 33 Chevrolet and Rick Ware Racing's No. 15 Ford are also expected to run part-time schedules in 2025, and those schedules could very well include the "Great American Race". Team AmeriVet's plans for their No. 50 Chevrolet also remain up in the air.

Bottom line, there could be more than 10 cars battling for four open spots. Will the Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller-owned JR Motorsports indeed make their Cup Series debut in the 67th annual Daytona 500 next month?

Allgaier has made two career Daytona 500 starts, both with HScott Motorsports, in 2014 and 2015. His most recent Cup Series start came at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May 2024, when he filled in for Kyle Larson at Hendrick Motorsports in the Coca-Cola 600 as Larson competed in IndyCar's Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The single-car qualifying session is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 12, and the two Bluegreen Vacations Duel races are scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 13 (7:00 p.m. ET on Fox). The race itself is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 16 (2:30 p.m. ET on Fox).