NASCAR: Daytona 500 landing spot confirmed for four-time Indy 500 winner

Four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves has discussed his desire to compete in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway for several years, and it appears that he may get the chance to do that to start the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Trackhouse Racing have been confirmed as the landing spot for Castroneves, with the 67th edition of the "Great American Race" now less than a month and a half away.

The Justin Marks and Pitbull-owned team was viewed as a potential landing spot for the 49-year-old Brazilian in past years, but the team opted not to add a third entry in the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval.

But the match makes too much sense.

In 2022, Trackhouse Racing introduced an initiative called PROJECT91, which is designed to give internationally renowned race car drivers the chance to compete in select Cup Series races.

PROJECT91 was not a part of the team's operation in 2024, but it did prove fruitful as the team confirmed Shane van Gisbergen as a full-time driver for 2025. In the inaugural Chicago Street Race in 2023, van Gisbergen became the first driver to win on Cup Series debut since 1963, and he did it through PROJECT91.

Van Gisbergen is set to drive a third chartered entry, the No. 88 Chevrolet, for the team in 2025, as Trackhouse Racing acquired a third charter from Stewart-Haas Racing. Ross Chastain is still set to drive the No. 1 Chevrolet, and Daniel Suarez is still set to drive the No. 99 Chevrolet.

Though teams that were not already running four chartered entries are now only allowed to run three, three-car teams can still enter an entry non-chartered (open) entry. This means that Castroneves will need to qualify for the race and is not guaranteed a spot just because his No. 91 Chevrolet is on the entry list.

Cup Series races are capped at 40 cars each, and 36 chartered cars are locked in. There are expected to be as many as 10 open entries vying for the other four spots. With Castroneves' entry having been announced, four have been now confirmed.

The fastest two drivers in single-car qualifying are set to lock in, and two other drivers are set to lock in via their Bluegreen Vacations Duel results. Should a driver effectively lock in both ways, the next fastest car (or cars) from the single-car qualifying session would take the remaining spot (or spots).

Single-car qualifying for the 67th annual Daytona 500 is scheduled to take place at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday, February 12. The two Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races are scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 13 (7:00 p.m. ET on Fox), and the "Great American Race" itself is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 16 (2:30 p.m. ET on Fox).