Daytona International Speedway is set to host the season-opening race weekend for NASCAR.
Here’s who is all competing to begin the 2026 season.
Cup Daytona Entry List
Forty-five drivers are entered for the Daytona 500. Jimmie Johnson will utilize the open exemption provisional, so the NASCAR Cup Series season will begin with 41 competitors.
Nine open teams are entered, including Johnson in the Legacy Motor Club No. 84 Toyota. As such, eight drivers will vie for four spots in the prestigious race with four DNQs.
After driving the No. 6 Ford for RFK Racing in the Cook Out Clash, Corey LaJoie will attempt to make the Great American Race in the No. 99 Ford for the team. Team co-owner Brad Keselowski has been medically cleared to compete in the race.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Chandler Smith will drive the No. 36 Ford for his team Front Row Motorsports, along with 2025 Truck champion Corey Heim in the No. 67 Toyota for 23XI Racing.
2024 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Justin Allgaier will again drive the No. 40 Chevrolet for his team JR Motorsports.
The other open drivers will be JJ Yeley in the No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet, NOAPS regular Anthony Alfredo in the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet, Casey Mears in the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford, and BJ McLeod in his self-owned No. 78 Chevrolet.
The Daytona 500 will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
O’Reilly Series Entry List
In the first race with O’Reilly Auto Parts as the series entitlement sponsor, 42 drivers are entered for the race, so four will fail to qualify.
Carson Hocevar is the only Cup driver entered as he will pilot the No. 42 Chevrolet for Young’s Motorsports.
Hocevar joins Gio Ruggiero in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Patrick Emerling in the No. 38 RSS Racing Ford, and Daniel Dye in the No. 52 AM Racing Ford as the four drivers ineligible to collect points in the series this season. Notably, Dye will contest triple-duty at Daytona as he will run in this race, the Truck Series race in his No. 10 Kaulig Racing RAM, and the ARCA Menards Series for Sigma Performance Services.
Dye’s teammate in the No. 25 Ford will be Nick Sanchez, who was just announced as the full-time driver for the ride.
Of the other TBA drivers on the list, Natalie Decker will be in the No. 35 and David Starr in the No. 53, both for Joey Gase Motorsports. Gase himself will pilot the No. 55.
Gase, Caesar Bacarella in the No. 4, and Jordan Anderson in the No. 32 will be the three team owners piloting a racecar for their respective teams.
The green flag to begin the NOAPS season will fly at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, the 14th, with TV coverage provided by The CW.
Truck Series Entry List
The Truck Series begins the race weekend with the Fresh from Florida 250. Forty-four drivers are entered for the 100-lap race. While the field size is normally 36, the four RAM drivers can use OEM provisionals to increase the field up to 40.
Those RAM drivers for Kaulig are Dye in the No. 10, Brenden Queen in the No. 12, Mini Tyrrell in the No. 14, Justin Haley in the No. 16, and Tony Stewart in the No. 25.
Stewart is a three-time Cup Series champion, and he will join four Cup regulars in the field. Michael McDowell will drive the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet, John Hunter Nemechek in the No. 62 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota, and Hocevar in the No. 77 Spire Chevy. Hocevar joins Dye as both drivers will race three times at Daytona.
There are six entries without drivers listed: the TRICON Garage No. 1, Niece No. 4, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing No. 19, Team Reaume No. 22, McAnally No. 81, and Terry Carroll Motorsports No. 90.
Of those entries, Garrett Mitchell ‘Cleetus McFarland’ is seeking approval to attempt his series debut in the No. 4. Daniel Hemric and Kris Wright will drive the Nos. 19 and 81. For the No. 22, team owner Josh Reaume is expected to drive it. And Justin Carroll is slated to drive his family-owned No. 90.
The Truck Series drivers will begin their season on Friday, the 13th, at 7:30 p.m. ET with TV coverage provided by FOX Sports 1.
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.
Great to see the high car/truck counts Hope it carries on to the next races Daytona is normally the highest count