DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Amid the dull roar of a busy NASCAR Media Day within the Daytona 500 Club on Wednesday (Feb. 12) afternoon sat the annual round robin of drivers on the entry list for the Great American Race.
For each of the total 45 pilots appearing on the entry list for the event, media members swarmed around them with microphones, cameras and recorders in hand. Frontstretch reporters were among them.
There were a number of topics to discuss with the field – with some more controversial than others.
Helio Castroneves and the Open Exemption Provisional Dilemma
It was arguably the biggest story on Wednesday afternoon.
IndyCar and overall racing legend Helio Castroneves had already been in the car for the first time earlier in the day yet before he could make his qualifying run that night, he was already confirmed to be in the field on Sunday for stock car racing’s biggest event. It was thanks to one of the latest rules implemented by NASCAR executives known as the ‘Open Exemption Provisional’, and it was a free entry into the race to any prominent racing driver of other motorsport disciplines that wanted to attempt NASCAR racing. One such name was the four-time Indianapolis 500 champion Castroneves.
The policy did not, however, include names such as Martin Truex Jr. or Jimmie Johnson, who were not guaranteed a spot into Sunday’s main event despite their championship-winning backgrounds.
Both of them disagreed with the policy.
“I really don’t understand it, you know?” Truex said during media day. “I don’t see a reason why [Castroneves] should be in the race that Jimmie Johnson shouldn’t be. It’s a little weird to me, but I don’t make the rules. I just come here and race.”
While the seven-time champion Johnson’s comments weren’t as negative, he still declared a similar disapproval.
“The part I have a problem with is that provisional will take up one of the 40 spots,” Johnson told reporters.” It should be a 41st starting position. It’s waived his points, waived the cash that can come with winning the race, start at the back of the field or maybe let him have a spot in the field, but don’t let that take away from the others that are trying to qualify their way in. That would be the twist that I would like to see change in the future.”
While he isn’t a past NASCAR Cup Series champion, fellow open-car fielder and veteran late model racer BJ McLeod vehemently agreed with the duo as well.
“He really has no reason to race in,” McLeod said during media day. “I don’t like it. I mean, bottom line, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I don’t agree with that. This is the Cup Series. Whoever you are, you should have to earn your way in and realistically, if you’re not fast enough to get in the race, why would you even want to race, right?
“I think my biggest thing was, you know, Jimmie don’t have it. Martin don’t have it. They both should have it, right?”
Both of Johnson and Truex’s comments held lesser value by the end of the night, however. The past champions each qualified their respective Toyotas into the Daytona 500 field on time Wednesday night. Castroneves did not, and he has already stated during his session on Media Day that he does not plan on holding back during the Thursday night Duels.
“I need to practice. I need to run,” Castroneves said to reporters. “I don’t have any experience at all. I mean, today is my second time in the car, so, I think every moment that I actually jump in the car, I will learn something, and I need it.
“I’ll be honest with you. It’s a different beast. It’s an amazing car. It’s completely different rules, and I think the competition is also different than what I’m used to. So, every time I’m in a car, I’m going to learn. No matter what happens, I’ll be running. I don’t know what to expect because this is the first time for everything.”
Despite Nine Open Entries, Little Teams Still Have Hope of Daytona 500 Berth
Among the likes of Johnson, Truex, McLeod and Castroneves are five other open entries still attempting to make the Great American Race.
However, with Truex and Johnson already locked in, only two open entries remain up for grabs among the remaining seven drivers, and the chances of some of the smaller, lesser-funded teams to make the field are not favored, especially with the Hendrick Motorsports-backed JR Motorsports No. 40 and Trackhouse Racing Project 91 entries among them.
But that doesn’t mean they don’t have hope.
“It doesn’t make me nervous,” Garage 66 driver Chandler Smith told reporters. “We all expected to try to be able to make it in on time, but at the end of the day, I still kind of had the mindset of we’re going to have to race our way in.
“Does it hurt my chances? Yeah, probably. Am I confident that if we dot our I’s and cross our T’s in the Duel, can we make it in? I think we have a chance.”
Beard Motorsports driver Anthony Alfredo exuded even more confidence.
“I like to think that a lot of these new teams that came down this year are saying the No. 62 is the one to beat,” Alfredo said. “For better or worse, they’re sure everyone brought their best stuff, but so did we, and I believe we can go head-to-head with them.
“It’s going to be tight though. … Just the affiliation those guys have, they have a huge advantage if they don’t qualify on time in the duels just from having teammates and stuff. There’s a lot more things in consideration this time around, but it’s going to be a great show for the fans nonetheless, and I look forward to the challenge of making the race.”
Rick Ware Racing’s newest driver and racing podcast star Corey LaJoie had a similar attitude.
“It’s certainly not the best [Daytona 500] to pick to come show up and try to qualify for, but also that’s why you do it. That’s why you show up for the Daytona 500. Because it’s the best of the best, and the guys are going to try to go get their spot.
“I feel good about our Take 5 Mustang after practice. I’m not holding my breath thinking we’re going to qualify on speed. … There’s a lot of things outside your control to speedways, but the things that are within my control, I feel like I’m going to do a good job and see where they land.”
Who will be the Daytona 500’s Next International Superstar?
With a four-time Indianapolis 500 champion in the field and the OEP in place, there has never been a better time for international racing talent to make an attempt in the Great American Race.
The only question is, who will it be?
One person to ask may be Cole Custer, who is now the sole driver of the recently rebranded Haas Factory Team; the sister team of Haas F1 and its drivers Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon.
Asked @ColeCuster how often @HaasFactoryTeam interacts with the F1 side of the garage and also if @OconEsteban or @OllieBearman would want to come over and try out #NASCAR
— Dalton Hopkins (@PitLaneCPT) February 12, 2025
“We’re trying to have more crossover now … They want to try and bring them together.”@Frontstretch… pic.twitter.com/36l1T4oh5g
“From time to time, we’re trying to have more crossover now with it being Haas Factory Team and Haas F1,” the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion said. “But obviously, it’s really tough because they’re in Europe, and we’re in the U.S. base, so it’s a little bit tough to, you know, see them every day and do that kind of stuff, but I think they want to try and bring them together a little bit.”
Former open-wheel racer and Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona overall winner AJ Allmendinger nominated some F1 drivers.
“Yeah, let’s get Lewis Hamilton here,” Allmendinger said to reporters.” When Lewis is done being dressed in red, I think it’d be so cool to have somebody like him or Max [Verstappen] for stopping just come over here.”
Former sports car racer and 2021 Daytona 500 Champion Michael McDowell also nominated the seven-time Formula One champion. However, he also had someone else in mind.
“I’d love to see Lewis Hamilton come and- maybe not Daytona,” McDowell told media with a chuckle. “I don’t know if we want to throw him into Daytona.
“Daniel Ricciardo too. He’s shown a lot of interest, and he needs a job right now. We should get him over here.”
However, if there’s anybody that knows about international drivers coming over from international racing disciplines into NASCAR, it’s Rookie of the Year candidate and Australian Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen. Naturally, he had some names from the racing series down under to nominate.
“Cam Waters wants to do some more this year,” van Gisbergen told media. “He was pretty decent in the [NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series]. Will Brown, Brodie Kostecki, there’s a few guys. In the [NASCAR Xfinity Series] races, I’m trying to get one of them to drive in the Kaulig [Racing] car. That would be awesome. I’d love to see more guys come out and try it. There’s some really talented guys over there.”
.@shanevg97 said he’s not used to superspeedway racing yet, and talked about how chaotic it is compared to anything else he’s done 👇@Frontstretch pic.twitter.com/lD6lVajYM6
— Dalton Hopkins (@PitLaneCPT) February 12, 2025
Cup Drivers Discuss Superbowl and NFL Playoff Woes
While most drivers likely have certain NFL teams to root for, there were a number that experienced the excitement of seeing their team still alive and fighting in the NFL playoffs early in 2025.
One of those drivers was not 2020 Cup Series champion and Atlanta Falcons fan Chase Elliott, but he was, however, at the Superbowl this year.
“It was really cool,” Elliott told reporters. “I’m sure you probably heard it 1,000 times by now, but I’ve never been to the Superbowl. I’ve never been to New Orleans. Those were two things that made the experience.
“I wish the game had been a little closer, you know, selfishly since I was there. Man, that game must have been really bad for them to be showing me on TV. They were really bored if they were hunting me in the in the crowd.”
Not everyone enjoyed watching the Philadelphia Eagles win, however. Ty Gibbs was rooting for the Washington Commanders during their playoff run. However, the grandson of the former Washington team’s head coach Joe Gibbs was disappointed after going to the game where they lost to the Eagles.
“It was definitely a little humbling at the Eagles,” Gibbs said to media with a smile.” I went to the Eagles game. They’re definitely – they like the Eagles, which is cool. It’s a little brutal, but it was fun. I was very excited to see them make it to the NFC championship.”
He still smiled after being asked by Jayski‘s Dustin Albino if he was heckled by Eagles fans.
“Oh yeah, a lot,” Gibbs laughed. “It’s like I was over here at a NASCAR race. It was pretty brutal. I can tell you it’s pretty gnarly because we had to use the restroom when we got to the stadium, and they took us into the police department in there. I didn’t know they had jail cells and everything. I was like, ‘This is crazy.'”
Michigan native and Detroit Lions fan Brad Keselowski also had a stake in this year’s playoff. However, he too saw his team fall in the playoff rounds.
“You hate not living up to your potential, and the team had a lot of potential,” Keselowski said to media. “They’ll have it again next year.”
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loudcolumn, co-host of the Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT