Chandler Smith will drive the No. 66 Ford during Speedweeks in an effort to earn a spot in the 2025 season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, according to MBM Motorsports, who just renamed their NASCAR Cup Series team to Garage 66. Mike Wallace was supposed to drive for the Carl Long-owned team, but NASCAR declared him ineligible. The 65-year-old was found to lack adequate recent experience in major racing competition, and he hasn’t participated in a Cup Series race since 2015. In the 200-lap race across the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval, the No. 66 Ford is officially the 44th vehicle on the entry list. Typically, Cup Series fields are limited to 40 vehicles, but there could be a 41st in the “Great American Race”, which will be touched on more below.
First, here are the 36 chartered entries, which are all locked into the event regardless of how they perform during the single-car qualifying session on Wednesday, February 12 and the Bluegreen Vacations Duel races on Thursday, February 13 (7:00 p.m. ET on Fox).
Chevrolet
Hendrick Motorsports
No. 5 – Kyle Larson
No. 9 – Chase Elliott
No. 24 – William Byron
No. 48 – Alex Bowman
Hyak Motorsports
No. 47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Kaulig Racing
No. 10 – Ty Dillon
No. 16 – A.J. Allmendinger
Richard Childress Racing
No. 3 – Austin Dillon
No. 8 – Kyle Busch
Spire Motorsports
No. 7 – Justin Haley
No. 71 – Michael McDowell
No. 77 – Carson Hocevar
Trackhouse Racing
No. 1 – Ross Chastain
No. 88 – Shane van Gisbergen
No. 99 – Daniel Suarez
Ford
Front Row Motorsports
No. 4 – Noah Gragson
No. 34 – Todd Gilliland
No. 38 – Zane Smith
Haas Factory Team
No. 41 – Cole Custer
RFK Racing
No. 6 – Brad Keselowski
No. 17 – Chris Buescher
No. 60 – Ryan Preece
Rick Ware Racing
No. 51 – Cody Ware
Team Penske
No. 2 – Austin Cindric
No. 12 – Ryan Blaney
No. 22 – Joey Logano
Wood Brothers Racing
No. 21 – Harrison Burton
Toyota
23XI Racing
No. 23 – Bubba Wallace
No. 35 – Riley Herbst
No. 45 – Tyler Reddick
Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 11 – Denny Hamlin
No. 19 – Chase Briscoe
No. 20 – Christopher Bell
No. 54 – Ty Gibbs
Legacy Motor Club
No. 42 – John Hunter Nemechek
No. 43 – Erik Jones
Now let’s have a look at the eight confirmed non-chartered (open) entries, of which only one is locked into the race.
Chevrolet
Beard Motorsports
No. 62 – Anthony Alfredo
Live Fast Motorsports
No. 78 – B.J. McLeod
JR Motorsports
No. 40 – Justin Allgaier
NY Racing Team
No. 44 – J.J. Yeley
Trackhouse Racing
No. 91 – Helio Castroneves
Ford
Garage 66 (MBM Motorsports)
No. 66 – Chandler Smith
Toyota
Legacy Motor Club
No. 84 – Jimmie Johnson
Tricon Garage
No. 56 – Martin Truex Jr.
Of these eight open entries, only Castroneves’ No. 91 Chevrolet is locked into the race.
In the single-car qualifying session, two drivers will qualify based on their pace, while two more will qualify based on their individual Duel race results. Castroneves has been given a “world-class driver” provisional, which might eventually increase the field from 40 to 41 cars, so even if he is not one of the four qualifies, he will still be competing. Other vehicles might still be added to the list of entries. In addition to the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and the No. 50 Team AmeriVet Chevrolet, the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford is thought to be a serious contender. Fox will show the 67th annual Daytona 500 live from Daytona International Speedway beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 16. Begin a free trial of FuboTV and don’t miss any of the action from the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season opener!
