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William Byron exits the garage during a test at Daytona International Speedway.

The clock has ticked to Wednesday, February 11 for NASCAR season signaling the start of another season. At 6 a.m., the gates of the Cup Series garage swung open for teams to open their respective haulers and unload their Daytona 500 rides.

However, before the 68th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 15, a lot is taking place. For today, here’s what happening when and how to follow the on-track actions from Daytona International Speedway.

Daytona 500 Starts the 2026 NASCAR Season

After the garage opened at 6 a.m., teams rolled the cars into their garage stalls. They have built, massaged and tweaked them in preparation for Speedweek. Then, the all-important and stressful inspection takes place.

NASCAR officials will go over every inch of the car inside, outside and underneath to make sure the guidelines of the rulebook are being followed. Making it through on the first try is a badge of honor to the teams.

A second attempt is most likely with it being the first and most anticipated race of the season. If a third attempt is done, this is where NASCAR starts to disqualify crew members responsible for the illegal areas.

It usually starts with the Car Chief. Being at Daytona for five days without the second-in-charge of a team is not the way to start a season.

Cars Finally Take to Daytona for Practice

Starting at 10 a.m. and ending at 10:50 am, all 45 entrants for The Great American Race will hit the 2.5-mile-high banks for the first practice session. This opportunity for teams to see how their hard work pays off.

Runs of three to five laps can be anticipated with no drafting done between teams. Because the qualifying session takes place via a single-car format, drafting isn’t essential during the practice session.

With only four open positions available for the Daytona 500 to non-chartered teams, this practice session is very essential. This Sunday there will be 41 entrants instead of the usual 40 with Jimmie Johnson taking advantage of the Open Exemption Provisional guaranteeing him into the race.

Front Row and The Duels Line-up Decided

When the qualifying session ends for all drivers, the top-10 fastest will go into the second session. The two fastest cars from that will decide the coveted Pole Award and who starts outside on Sunday. These two positions are locked in no matter what happens the rest of Speedweek.

The drivers who are third, fifth and seventh, etc. fastest will start in Duel No. 1 on Thursday night. Those that are fourth, sixth and eighth etc. will run Duel No. 2 that night. These races decide who will make up the completed for Sunday’s 200-lap race.

For the four open teams, two will be locked in on speed tonight with The Duels deciding the two remaining spots.

How to Watch and Listen

For everything leading up to the D500 on Sunday, fans can see it live on FS1-TV from Daytona. Radio coverage will be on MRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

On Sunday, FOX-TV will once again carry the prestigious Daytona 500 with radio coverage available via the pre-mentioned outlets.

 

Tim Packman Tim Packman is a journalist for Heavy.com covering NASCAR. He grew up around the short tracks of Western New York watching his dad, stepdad and step brother race. His uncle was the head starter at many area tracks and member of the FOAR Score Hall of Fame.

Tim’s passion for racing took him to the announcer’s tower and writing program stories for multiple tracks in the area, namely Lancaster National Speedway. In 2000, he moved to Mooresville, NC to become an award-winning journalist for NASCAR.com. He took a job with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as the team’s Communications Director and was part of two Daytona 500 wins and two NASCAR Championships.

The announcing experience led to becoming a Pit Reporter and News Director for MRN Radio. A return to the team side at Richard Childress Racing as the Director of Corporate Communications took place, which also included another Championship.

From 2015 to 2018, Tim returned to where his career began in 1994 – Lancaster National Speedway & Dragway – as the Track President. He earned Short Track Promoter of the Year awards in 2016 and 2017.

Upon returning to NC, he joined The Garage Shop as Communications Director and host of it’s Podcast and MAV-TV docuseries “Legacy of Speed” talking about Land Speed Racing at Bonneville, and other places.

Tim has hosted two other Podcasts, namely “Pub Table Racers,” and wrote three books. One was with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison titled, “Bobby Allison, a Racer’s Racer” and two Children’s books, “Funny Dan the Race Car Man” and “Petey the Pace Car.”

He also served in the US Navy. More about Tim Packman

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