There were a total of nine non-chartered (open) cars on the entry list for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, and four of those entries were added by teams that already run full-time entries.<\/p>\n
Front Row Motorsports added the No. 36 Ford for Chandler Smith, giving them a four-car team; 23XI Racing added the No. 67 Toyota for Corey Heim<\/a>, giving them a four-car team; Legacy Motor Club added the No. 84 Toyota for Jimmie Johnson, giving them a three-car team; and RFK Racing added the No. 99 Ford for Corey LaJoie, giving them a four-car team.<\/p>\n Smith and LaJoie failed to qualify, Johnson was locked in via the Open Exemption Provisional<\/a>, thus expanding the 40-car field to 41, and Heim locked himself in on his single-car qualifying speed.<\/p>\n But none of those drivers will be competing this weekend at EchoPark Speedway, formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n 4 NASCAR Cup teams dropping a car for Atlanta<\/p>\n Just two of the nine open cars from Daytona are set to compete in Sunday’s 260-lap race around the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) Hampton, Georgia oval, and because there are only two, both of them are locked into the race.<\/p>\n NY Racing Team’s J.J. Yeley is set to drive the No. 44 Chevrolet after failing to qualify for the Daytona 500 for the third year in a row, while Live Fast Motorsports’ B.J. McLeod is set to drive the No. 78 Chevrolet after getting the chance to compete in the “Great American Race” for the first time since 2023.<\/p>\n Garage 66 had initially planned on entering the No. 66 Ford for Casey Mears after he locked the Carl Long-owned team into the Daytona 500<\/a> for the first time since 2020, but they have since withdrawn.<\/p>\n JR Motorsports also won’t compete at Atlanta after Justin Allgaier competed in the Daytona 500 for the second year in a row behind the wheel of the No. 40 Chevrolet, and Beard Motorsports won’t compete after Anthony Alfredo initially locked himself and the No. 62 Chevrolet into the race for the first time since 2024, only for his result to be disallowed due to a technical infraction<\/a> discovered after his America 250 Florida Duel qualifying race.<\/p>\n