The 2019 Daytona 500 entry list is here
The 2019 NASCAR season is getting closer and closer.
NASCAR released the entry list for the Daytona 500 Wednesday night. On the lists are 42 cars for 40 spots, meaning at least two cars will fail to qualify for the Feb. 17 race. That’s significant after the 2018 Daytona 500 had just 40 cars entered for 40 spots.
Thirty-six of the 42 cars currently entered into the race are guaranteed starting spots in the 500 because of NASCAR’s charter system. That means at least six cars will be racing for four available spots. Casey Mears, Tyler Reddick, Parker Kligerman, Brendan Gaughan, Joey Gase and Ryan Truex are the six drivers who aren’t guaranteed spots in the field.
More cars could attempt the race as well. That includes the No. 97 car of Obaika Racing, which announced its Daytona 500 sponsor at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Wednesday. But NASCAR’s entry list for the 500 came hours after Obaika’s announcement and the team was nowhere to be found on it. How can you plan an announcement about your attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 but not enter yourself in the race in time to be on the first entry list?
The No. 7 car with J.J. Yeley could also be entered into the race.
Pole qualifying for the Daytona 500 begins at noon ET on Sunday. The top two qualifiers will start on the front row for the race while spots Nos. 3-40 will be determined Feb. 14 in the traditional two pre-qualifying races.
Drivers locked into the Daytona 500
No. 00 Landon Cassill
No. 1 Kurt Busch
No. 2 Brad Keselowski
No. 3 Austin Dillon
No. 4 Kevin Harvick
No. 6 Ryan Newman
No. 8 Daniel Hemric
No. 9 Chase Elliott
No. 10 Aric Almirola
No. 11 Denny Hamlin
No. 12 Ryan Blaney
No. 13 Ty Dillon
No. 14 Clint Bowyer
No. 15 Ross Chastain
No. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
No. 18 Kyle Busch
No. 19 Martin Truex Jr.
No. 20 Erik Jones
No. 21 Paul Menard
No. 22 Joey Logano
No. 24 William Byron
No. 32 Corey LaJoie
No. 34 Michael McDowell
No. 36 Matt Tifft
No. 37 Chris Buescher
No. 38 David Ragan
No. 40 Jamie McMurray
No. 41 Daniel Suarez
No. 42 Kyle Larson
No. 43 Bubba Wallace
No. 47 Ryan Preece
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson
No. 51 Cody Ware
No. 52 BJ McLeod
No. 88 Alex Bowman
No. 95 Matt DiBenedetto
Drivers not locked in
No. 27 Casey Mears
No. 31 Tyler Reddick
No. 62 Brendan Gaughan
No. 66 Joey Gase
No. 71 Ryan Truex
No. 96 Parker Kligerman
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter
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