Daytona 500 field is set

The field for the 68th running of the Daytona 500 is now official.

Kyle Busch, in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, will lead the field to the green flag in his 21st attempt to win the sport’s biggest race. It is the only thing missing from Busch’s NASCAR resume, which should make him a surefire first ballot Hall of Famer.

Chase Briscoe, who started from the pole in the 2025 edition of this race, joins Busch on the front row in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The second row is made up of the drivers who won Thursday night’s duel races. Joey Logano will start third, and Chase Elliott will start fourth.

The rest of the starting top 10 drivers are Ryan Blaney in fifth, Carson Hocevar in sixth, Austin Dillon in seventh, Kyle Larson in eighth, Brad Keselowski in ninth, and Michael McDowell in 10th. Shane van Gisbergen begins his second Daytona 500 from the 13th position.

Casey Mears, who made an improbable run into the field with Garage 66 for Carl Long, will start 17th. Denny Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, starts from the 22nd position.

In addition to Mears, the other Open drivers who qualified for Sunday’s event were Corey Heim, who starts his first Daytona 500 from the 29th position after making the field for 23XI Racing. Jimmie Johnson, who took the Open Exemption Provisional, starts 31st, while BJ McLeod will start 38th, and Justin Allgaier will start 40th.

There are 41 drivers in the field, with the addition of Johnson and the OEP. Chris Buescher is listed as the 41st starter.

However, there will be drivers who have to drop to the rear of the field on Sunday. After incidents in the duel races, four teams have already confirmed the move to backup cars: Buescher, William Byron, Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez.

Hamlin is one of eight former Daytona 500 winners in the field.

The manufacturer makeup of the field shows Chevrolet leading with 19 drivers, while Toyota and Ford have 11 drivers each.

The drivers who failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 were Corey LaJoie, Anthony Alfredo, Chandler Smith and JJ Yeley.

STARTING LINE-UP