The Daytona 500 entry list was as loaded as it has been in recent years, and four non-chartered (open) entries ended up failing to qualify for the race. All four of those non-chartered cars were entered by teams without any chartered cars, so four teams ultimately ended up missing the race entirely.
But two of those four teams are set to return for this coming Sunday afternoon's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway: NY Racing Team and Live Fast Motorsports.
Both are set to do with the same drivers they entered at Daytona International Speedway, but this time, both entries are locked into the race, as there are only 39 cars on the entry list for Sunday's 260-lap race around the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) high-banked Hampton, Georgia oval.
Two NASCAR teams back after failing to qualify for Daytona 500
NY Racing Team are set to field the No. 44 Chevrolet for J.J. Yeley, and Live Fast Motorsports are set to field the No. 78 Chevrolet for B.J. McLeod.
These two driver/team combinations were ironically the only two to miss last year's Daytona 500, and Live Fast Motorsports returned with the No. 78 car for McLeod, who co-owns the team, for race number two at Atlanta as well. NY Racing Team did not return until the following weekend's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, also with Yeley in the No. 44 entry.
The other two teams that missed this year's running of the "Great American Race", Beard Motorsports (No. 62 Chevrolet, Anthony Alfredo) and Garage 66 (No. 66 Ford, Chandler Smith), are not competing at Atlanta.
The only other open car on the entry list for Sunday's Ambetter Health 400 is the No. 01 Rick Ware Racing entry. Corey LaJoie successfully qualified the car at Daytona and is set to be back behind the wheel at Atlanta.
Tune in to Fox at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, February 23 for the live broadcast of the Ambetter Health 400 from Atlanta Motor Speedway. If you have not yet had the chance to do so, start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!