A little-known inclusion in NASCAR's new charter agreement, which went into effect a year ago now, allowed teams to apply for a world-class provisional to guarantee a part-time driver a spot in a race, even if that driver were to fail to qualify.
Just one such provisional would be allowed for each race, though with entry lists rarely featuring more than 40 cars outside of the Daytona 500, it was always likely that the Daytona 500 would be the only race for which the provisional was used.
Justin Marks and Trackhouse Racing took advantage ahead of the 2025 running of the "Great American Race", locking four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves into the field for his first career Cup Series start.
In a non-chartered (open) car, Castroneves still had a chance to qualify. The two fastest open cars in the single-car qualifying session locked in, as did the highest finishers (among open cars) in the two Duel qualifying races, and Castroneves had the opportunity to be among those successful qualifiers.
Castroneves failed to qualify on his own, but he was still added to the field as the 41st driver due to the provisional, making the 2025 Daytona 500 the first since 1993 to feature exactly 41 cars. Had he successfully qualified, however, only three other open cars would have been included, and the field would have been capped at 40.
For this year's Daytona 500, things are a bit different.
The world-class provisional, officially the Open Exemption Provisional, has been granted to Legacy Motor Club and Jimmie Johnson. But an offseason rule change has guaranteed that the field will be expanded to 41 cars, meaning that Johnson's No. 84 Toyota is effectively being treated like a 37th chartered car for the purposes of being locked into the race.
In other words, two of the open entries that have not been granted the provisional are still set to lock in on speed, and two others are still set to lock in on Duel result, regardless of what Johnson does. Johnson cannot take one of those four spots.
It's a change that makes sense, as it locks Johnson into the race with the provisional and avoids the risk of him taking away a spot from one of the other drivers who can literally only get in by taking one of those very few spots.
The other open entries currently include the No. 40 JR Motorsports Chevrolet for Justin Allgaier, the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford for Casey Mears, and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet for B.J. McLeod.
Seven drivers are expected to battle for the four open spots, with expected additions being the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet for Austin Hill, the No. 44 NY Racing Chevrolet, the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet, and the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota for Corey Heim.
Tricon Garage's return after making their Daytona 500 debut in 2025 is unlikely, as is another expansion of Rick Ware Racing from one car to two.
Fox is set to provide live coverage of the Daytona 500 from Daytona International Speedway beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 15. Qualifying is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 11, followed by the two America 250 Florida Duel races on Thursday, February 12. Qualifying and the Duel races are both set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1.