Driver Bubba Wallace works on the track during a NASCAR Daytona 500 practice, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Daytona, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Sunday marks the official launch of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season with the 68th running of the Daytona 500. This renowned competition, held at the 2.5-mile oval circuit in Daytona Beach, Florida, is scheduled to commence at 1:30 p.m. ET (its start time advanced by an hour due to anticipated weather conditions) and will be broadcast live on Fox.
Key information regarding the upcoming event is provided below, particularly given NASCAR’s introduction of substantial revisions to its championship structure for the new season.
Can William Byron Secure a Third Straight Victory?
William Byron is vying to become the inaugural competitor to claim three consecutive Daytona 500 titles.
Only six drivers in history have achieved a minimum of three Daytona 500 victories, yet none has managed to win them in three successive seasons. Furthermore, among these six, merely three—Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, and Denny Hamlin—have secured back-to-back Daytona 500 triumphs.
Byron is one of just seven drivers to have clinched two Daytona 500 victories, securing these successes by deftly navigating late-race collisions and positioning himself advantageously during critical restarts.
During the 2024 event, Byron successfully navigated a pile-up involving 23 cars near the front of the pack with fewer than ten laps remaining. This incident precipitated a restart with four laps left, during which Byron maintained the lead for all subsequent circuits to secure his win. Remarkably, these were the only four laps he led throughout the entire race.
In the previous season, a crash on the backstretch with five laps remaining led to a green-white-checkered restart. Byron found himself in seventh position as the cars exited Turn 2 on the ultimate lap, but he astonishingly bypassed the leading competitors as they collided on the backstretch, thereby snatching the victory.
Is it conceivable that Byron’s fortunate streak might persist, enabling him to achieve an unprecedented third consecutive win?
Daytona 500 Champion No Longer Guaranteed Playoff Entry
The integrated 10-race playoff structure has been reinstated by NASCAR.
In January, the governing body declared its reversion to a variation of its inaugural playoff system, which debuted in 2004. Following the initial 26 races of the season, the top 16 competitors in the points standings will secure berths in the playoffs, with their seeding determined by their standing. The individual accumulating the highest number of points across the concluding 10 races of the season will be declared champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR utilized an aggregate 10-race playoff system from 2004 until 2013, prior to introducing a multi-round playoff version in 2014. Under that prior playoff structure, a driver who secured a victory during the regular season could virtually assure their qualification for the playoffs.
Over the last twelve seasons, the ten-race playoffs comprised four stages, with three drivers eliminated during each of the first three stages before a quartet of drivers competed directly for the championship in the season’s final event. In 2025, Hamlin asserted dominance in the concluding race at Phoenix; however, a late caution triggered by Byron’s tire malfunction disrupted the race’s pit strategy, allowing Kyle Larson to emerge from pit road ahead of Hamlin and secure his second Cup Series championship by crossing the finish line first.
Will Denny Hamlin Secure His Fourth Daytona 500 Title?
Should Hamlin, at 45 years old, achieve a fourth victory, he would draw even with Cale Yarborough for the second-highest number of Daytona 500 wins. Hamlin stands as one of four drivers with three Daytona 500 successes, and alongside Byron, he is one of only two currently active full-time drivers boasting multiple Daytona 500 victories.
The preceding four months have been quite eventful for Hamlin. After a devastating loss in the championship race in November, Hamlin, along with his 23XI Racing team, co-owned with Michael Jordan, entered into legal proceedings against NASCAR regarding the Cup Series’ franchising terms. The dispute concluded with a resolution that awarded permanent charters to teams—a central point of contention in the lawsuit filed by 23XI and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR.
Subsequently, in December, Hamlin’s father, Dennis, tragically perished, and his mother, Mary Lou, sustained severe injuries in a house fire that obliterated their North Carolina residence. Merely two weeks prior, Hamlin disclosed that he had reinjured his right shoulder while sifting through the debris at the fire site and intends to postpone surgery until after the conclusion of the 2026 Cup Series season.
Hamlin has amassed 60 career Cup Series race victories over 721 starts, marking him as the most accomplished driver never to have claimed a Cup Series championship. After narrowly missing the title in 2025, could 2026 finally be his breakthrough year?
Prominent Drivers Still Awaiting Their Inaugural Daytona 500 Victory
Besides Byron and Hamlin, only five other full-time competitors have achieved Daytona 500 victories: Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Michael McDowell, Austin Cindric, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
It becomes apparent that numerous elite talents are conspicuously missing from this roster. Notable drivers such as Larson, the 2023 Cup Series titleholder Ryan Blaney, 2020 Cup champion Chase Elliott, and two-time Cup Series champion (2015 and 2019) Kyle Busch are still pursuing their maiden triumph in the Daytona 500.
Busch holds the longest dry spell among this cohort. The 2026 Daytona 500 will mark Busch’s twenty-first attempt, and his performance in February at Daytona has consistently been challenging. Busch has secured only a single victory across his 41 total appearances at Daytona, and merely five of his thirteen top-10 finishes in those events occurred during the Daytona 500.
Should he clinch a win for Richard Childress Racing this Sunday, he would end a drought that has exceeded even Dale Earnhardt’s. The seven-time Cup Series champion finally claimed his first Daytona 500 in his twentieth start back in 1998.
Busch is also commencing the race from the premier starting position. He secured his initial Daytona 500 pole position on Wednesday evening and, if victorious, would be the first driver since Dale Jarrett in 2000 to win after starting from pole.
Connor Zilisch: The Sole Cup Series Rookie Contender
The nineteen-year-old faces minimal competition to clinch the Rookie of the Year title in 2026, being the singular driver eligible for the accolade. Zilisch is transitioning to a full-time role in the Cup Series this season with Trackhouse Racing, following 36 starts in what is presently known as the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
After securing one win from four starts in 2024, Zilisch demonstrated formidable performance in 2025, accumulating 10 victories and 23 top-10 placements over 32 races competing for JR Motorsports. Nevertheless, he did not claim the series championship, having placed third behind champion Jesse Love in the season’s concluding race.
Zilisch possesses established expertise as a road course competitor, making him a potential primary rival to his Trackhouse colleague, Shane van Gisbergen, on such tracks. Van Gisbergen notably triumphed in five out of six Cup Series road course events during 2025.
Jimmie Johnson Makes His Comeback
The seven-time Cup Series title holder is extending his limited engagement in NASCAR by participating in another Daytona 500. After stepping away from the Cup Series for the 2021 and 2022 seasons to explore IndyCar, Johnson has competed in the most recent three Daytona 500s representing Legacy Motor Club, achieving a third-place finish just last season.
For the current season, Johnson is exempt from the qualification process. Thanks to a regulation introduced by NASCAR in 2025, which provided Helio Castroneves a guaranteed entry, Johnson is assured a place in the starting grid through the Open Exemption Provisional, a discretionary allowance for distinguished drivers competing on a part-time basis.
Johnson’s guaranteed entry into the lineup means that 41 vehicles will commence the Daytona 500, rather than the customary 40. Given that 45 cars are attempting to qualify, four drivers will consequently not make it into the race.
Who Secured Their Spot in the Daytona 500?
Casey Mears and BJ McLeod earned their entries into the Daytona 500 during the Duel qualifying events held on Thursday evening, each achieving their qualification through distinct circumstances.
Mears experienced a spin while entering pit road halfway through the initial Duel, finding himself at the rear of the primary group on the concluding lap. However, Corey LaJoie—one of two competitors Mears was vying against for a transfer position into the 500—became entangled in a collision while leading the field. Mears accelerated intensely as the incident unfolded, even making contact with Daniel Suarez as Suarez impacted the wall. Despite this, Mears crossed the finish line ahead of Chandler Smith, while LaJoie’s vehicle was compromised in the infield grass.
In the subsequent Duel, McLeod dismounted his vehicle convinced he had failed to qualify for the 500. McLeod placed ahead of JJ Yeley but behind Anthony Alfredo, who occupied the transfer position for that race. Nevertheless, Alfredo’s car subsequently failed its post-race inspection, and his ensuing disqualification secured McLeod’s entry into the main event.
