This year's Daytona 500 qualification is more intricate than usual due to a record number of entries and a new rule allowing NASCAR to invite a 'world-class driver'. This rule affects four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, who is competing with Trackhouse Racing. While Castroneves' entry is guaranteed through the rule, his team forfeits prize money if he utilizes the provisional spot. He aims to qualify conventionally, which would result in a 40-car field. However, if he fails to qualify, the Daytona 500 will have 41 cars with Castroneves filling the provisional spot.
And it got more convoluted this year with the largest number of entrants in a decade and a new rule that could add a 41st driver to the 40-car field.24/7 New York news stream: Watch NBC 4 free wherever you are“It’s not just seven whatevers," Johnson said."When you look through the affiliations and how those cars play out, it’s going to be a very stressful qualifying.
Although Castroneves is driving for an open team, the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner is locked into the field through a new rule that allows NASCAR to invite a “world-class driver” to each event. His Trackhouse Racing team was the only one to apply before the deadline, so he was the only driver NASCAR considered for the provisional spot.
But there’s a catch. If Castroneves uses the provisional, his team gets no prize money. So he will try to qualify his way in, and if he does, the Daytona 500 would be a 40-car field — and five open cars would miss the race. If he doesn’t qualify, he would get in via the provisional — and the 500 would have 41 cars.. He has two top-10s in 41 career Cup starts. Founded by the late Mark Beard Sr., Beard Motorsports is trying to make the field for the seventh time since 2017.
NASCAR Daytona 500 Qualification Helio Castroneves Provisional Spot
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