PREVIEW: A multitude of driver and team changes set to play out in Daytona
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
Thursday, February 15, 2024 (7:00 P.M. ET, FS1)
CUP Exhibition Races
Can-Am Duels at Daytona
2023 Last-Place Finishers: Ty Dillon (Race 1), Travis Pastrana (Race 2)
ENTRY LIST
After a narrow escape from the rain at the L.A. Coliseum, here are the team changes following the Clash for those 42 teams entered to attempt the 40-car field for this year’s Daytona 500. Two teams will fail to qualify.
DRIVER CHANGE: #15-Rick Ware Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #36-Front Row Motorsports
Last season saw Riley Herbst score his first XFINITY Series win, but only after his four-race debut in the Cup Series was bookended by a pair of impressive runs. After finishing 10th in last year’s Daytona 500 with Rick Ware Racing, he was among the leaders for nearly the entire fall Talladega race with Front Row Motorsports. He was ultimately wrecked in the final seconds, dropping him from 4th to 9th. This year, he rejoins the Ware team with Monster Energy as sponsor, taking the place of Clash DNQ Kaz Grala. Grala will run Herbst’s former #36 entry with Ruedebusch as sponsor, eyeing his third Daytona 500 start in the last four years.
DRIVER CHANGE: #16-Kaulig Racing
By the narrowest of margins, Josh Williams missed out on making his Cup debut in the Clash, but will remain one to watch as he kicks off his new full-time XFINITY effort with the Kaulig team this Saturday. Returning to the seat of the #16 is A.J. Allmendinger, back to part-time competition, as the first of several of this weekend’s entries sponsored by Celsius. This would be Allmendinger’s 11th 500 start, a race where he finished 6th last year.
RETURNING: #44-NY Racing Team
The most intriguing story in the Cup garage was the surprise return of Johnathan Cohen’s NY Racing Team, which had been absent from the series since Talladega on April 24, 2022, when Greg Biffle was their driver, and the team was frequently sidelined with fuel pump issues. Images of the team’s hauler then came to light, showing Biffle’s name on a rendering of their #44 Chevrolet with 100 Coconut Water as sponsor. But Biffle stated on social media he would not drive, citing “unfulfilled contract obligations” from 2022. The team then indicated they had secured a driver just last week and had yet to announce. This was revealed to be J.J. Yeley, who had just parted ways with Rick Ware Racing, and hadn’t driven for Cohen since 2018.
NEW TEAM: #60-RFK Racing
RFK Racing’s “Stage 60” team makes its first attempt this weekend, bringing one of the Roush team’s iconic numbers into the Cup Series for the first time. Behind the wheel of the BuildSubmarines.com Ford, third in the RFK lineup, is a returning David Ragan. Since stepping away from full-time competition at the end of 2019, three of his six Cup starts have come in the Daytona 500, including an 8th his last time out in 2022 for Rick Ware Racing. The RFK team expects big things after a summer race in Daytona that saw teammates Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski finish 1-2.
RETURNING: #62-Beard Motorsports
Beard Motorsports continues their superspeedway schedule with another young upstart in Anthony Alfredo, who brings with him sponsorship from Death Wish Coffee. The XFINITY Series regular, now driving for Our Motorsports in that series, seeks his 39th career Cup start and first since Martinsville last spring, when he drove for Live Fast Racing and finished 35th. He finished 32nd in his only Daytona 500 start in 2021, which kicked off his rookie campaign in Front Row’s #38.
RETURNING: #78-Live Fast Motorsports
Speaking of B.J. McLeod, he returns to one of his best tracks without a listed sponsor, and without the partnership of former team co-owner Matt Tifft, who is pursuing other opportunities in racing. Following the sale of his Charter to Spire Motorsports, McLeod plans a part-time schedule as an “open” team in 2024. He seeks his sixth consecutive Daytona 500 start, and though he’s finished no better than 19th in the race, he’s taken 7th and 9th in the 400-miler here.
RETURNING: #84-Legacy Motor Club
For the first time since a family tragedy cancelled his run in the inaugural Chicago Street Race, the Legacy team is fielding the #84 entry for seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson – the first active NASCAR Hall of Fame member to enter a Cup Series race. Johnson carries returning backing from Carvana and new backing from rock band Creed, and campaigns a Toyota for the first time. This year’s scheme is Petty blue with bumper graphics to honor fellow seven-time champion Richard Petty.
Friday, February 16, 2024 (7:30 P.M. ET, FS1)
TRUCKS Race 1 of 23
Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Dean Thompson
ENTRY LIST
There are 39 entries for 36 spots in the first Craftsman Truck Series race of 2024, meaning three teams will be sent home.
DRIVER CHANGE: #1-TRICON Garage
The next entry sponsored by Celsius goes to Toni Breidinger, who enjoyed a solid start to her Truck Series career Last season in this #1 entry for TRICON, Breidinger finished 15th, 24th, and 17th in her three starts and completed all but two laps, finishing under power each time. She now enters the Truck race at Daytona for the first time, but is no stranger to the track – she’s completed every lap of her three ARCA starts here with a best finish of 9th in 2022, and runs double-duty with this year’s ARCA race. She takes the place of Phoenix starter Jesse Love, who moves to his full-time XFINITY effort with Richard Childress Racing.
TEAM CLOSED: #4-Kyle Busch Motorsports
DRIVER CHANGE: #7-Spire Motorsports
TEAM CLOSED: #18-Kyle Busch Motorsports
TEAM CLOSED: #24-GMS Racing
TEAM CLOSED: #51-Kyle Busch Motorsports
NEW TEAM: #71-Spire Motorsports
DRIVER CHANGE: #77-Spire Motorsports
RETURNING: #91-McAnally-Hilgemann Racing
Last year’s closures of both Kyle Busch Motorsports – acquired by Spire Motorsports – and GMS Racing have led to massive changes on this year’s entry list. Spire’s flagship #7 carries the Owner Points of the former KBM #51. For Daytona, the #7 goes to Cup regular Corey LaJoie, who enjoyed a strong run in this race last year, leading 19 laps before finishing 23rd. LaJoie substitutes for Marco Andretti, who will instead enter Saturday’s ARCA race. Jack Wood, driver of the #51 last fall at Phoenix, joins an expanding McAnally team in the returning #91, which carries sponsorship from Klotz Synthetics. Spire’s second entry, the #77, takes KBM’s points from the #4 and keeps driver Chase Purdy with his Bama Buggies sponsorship, replacing Phoenix starter Derek Kraus, who is not entered this week. Spire also debuts a new third entry, the #71 with a familiar HendrickCars.com sponsorship. Running the original Owner Points for Spire’s #7 last season, this truck goes to Rajah Caruth, formerly of GMS Racing’s #24 prior to their closure. Recall that Caruth drove for Hendrick’s own XFINITY team last fall at Phoenix in the #17, yielding a 14th-place finish.
TEAM UPDATE: #6-Norm Benning Racing
Norm Benning worked much of this past offseason to drive one of Henderson Motorsports’ trucks at Daytona this week, but sponsorship didn’t come together quite fast enough to make the attempt. As I reported on Tuesday, Benning will instead enter the truck this October at Talladega. He also plans to make other starts this season in his own equipment.
DRIVER CHANGE: #9-CR7 Motorsports
TEAM CLOSED: #23-GMS Racing
TEAM CHANGE: #43-McAnally Hilgemann Racing
TEAM CLOSED: #43-GMS Racing
The other two drivers left without rides after the closure of GMS Racing are also entered this week. Championship runner-up Grant Enfinger of the old GMS #23 entry rejoins with CR7 Motorsports, taking the place of Colby Howard in the Grant County Mulch Chevrolet. This harkens back to 2021, when Enfinger split the schedule with CR7 after his ThorSport entry scaled back to part-time. Daniel Dye, who completed his rookie campaign in the GMS #43, now holds Enfinger’s Owner Points for another new entry at the McAnally team, still carrying the #43 and sponsor Champion Container. Dye eyes a double-duty weekend with the XFINITY Series for Kaulig Racing.
RETURNING: #10-Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing
The preliminary entry list did not include longtime owner-driver Jennifer Jo Cobb, who has only started one Truck Series race in each of the last two seasons, and has not qualified for the Daytona opener since 2021, when she finished 18th. However, Cobb posted a picture of her truck on social media, showing a black-and-white #10 Chevrolet ready to race.
MISSING: #12-Young’s Motorsports
MISSING: #20-Young’s Motorsports
NEW TEAM: #76-Freedom Racing Enterprises
Randy Young has scaled back two of his Truck Series teams, leaving out the #12 previously run by Spencer Boyd and the #20 run most recently at Phoenix by Nick Leitz. While Leitz is not entered this week, Boyd brings back the #76 that he previously piloted for Bobby Dotter’s XFINITY team in 2018, this time as the branding for a new team in Freedom Racing Enterprises. With sponsorship from Tibbett’s Lumber and the Owner Points from Daniel Dye’s #43 entry at GMS Racing, Boyd seeks his fifth Truck start at Daytona, site of a 4th-place finish in his 2019 debut.
DRIVER CHANGE: #13-ThorSport Racing
TEAM CLOSED: #16-Hattori Racing Enterprises
NEW TEAM: #18-McAnally-Hilgemann Racing
MISSING: #35-McAnally-Hilgemann Racing
TEAM CLOSED: #61-Hattori Racing Enterprises
Overlooked among the teams that scaled down after last season is Shigeaki Hattori’s team, which last year fielded Tyler Ankrum full-time in the flagship #16 alongside Phoenix starter Jake Drew in the #61. Neither truck is entered this year, and Drew isn’t, either. Ankrum has moved to a new McAnally effort with sponsor LiUNA! joining him on the #18. With Ankrum’s #16 Owner Points acquired by the Reaume Brothers’ #33, Ankrum uses the Owner Points from McAnally’s #35 entry, which is also not on the list after Jake Garcia’s rookie campaign last year. Garcia has himself moved on to ThorSport, replacing Hailie Deegan in the #13 after Deegan was bumped up to the XFINITY Series with AM Racing.
NEW TEAM: #21-Floridian Motorsports
Perhaps the biggest underdog on the list has to be start-up Floridian Motorsports, which team owner Robert S. Osteen formed on January 9th and have since put together a Toyota for Mason Maggio. East Coast Lumber and Ace Hardware Rock Hill are among the sponsors for this grassroots effort. Maggio most recently finished 27th last fall at Homestead driving for AM Racing / Reaume Brothers Racing in the #22.
DRIVER CHANGE / TEAM CHANGE: #22-Reaume Brothers Racing
After the Reaume team took on an increased role with the #22 AM Racing entry through the 2023, the truck is now entered by the Reaume team itself, and assumes the team’s Owner Points. Taking the place of Phoenix starter Christian Rose is a returning Jason M. White from Canada (not to be confused with Jason A. White, the series veteran from the U.S.). The British Columbia native seeks his fifth straight Truck start at Daytona, where his best finish was a 10th in his 2020 debut. He finished 27th in his most recent run at Talladega last fall.
DRIVER CHANGE: #25-Rackley-W.A.R.
DRIVER SWAP: #75-Henderson Motorsports
After a pair of frustrating Cup Series seasons in the NextGen car – first with Legacy Motor Club in 2022, and then with Spire Motorsports in 2023 – Ty Dillon moves to the Truck Series for 2023, taking over the fleet Rackley Roofing #25 entry full-time. The series runner-up in 2013 with three career wins, the younger Dillon last competed in this series in the 2021 finale at Phoenix, when he finished 25th for Bret Holmes’ team. He now takes the place of Stefan Parsons, who made a one-off last fall at Phoenix as a substitute for the released Matt DiBenedetto. While DiBenedetto still doesn’t have a ride this week, Parsons has already landed at Henderson Motorsports to pilot the #75, replacing part-timer Parker Kligerman, who remains with XFINITY team Big Machine Racing. Ball Park Buns & Rolls debuts a vibrant new paint scheme on the Parsons truck.
NEW TEAM / DRIVER SWAP: #27-Rackley-W.A.R.
MISSING: #30-On Point Motorsports
DRIVER SWAP: #33-Reaume Brothers Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Niece Motorsports
Ty Dillon will not be alone on the entry list this week as, for only the third time in the team’s history and first since 2022, the Rackley-W.A.R. team will field a second entry. They bring back the #27, last campaigned by Cup regular William Byron at Nashville in 2021, and this time hire Alaska native Keith McGee, who has continued to reconsider his departure from NASCAR last June. McGee, who most recently failed to qualify at Phoenix in the Reaume Brothers Racing #33, brings his sponsor from that race More Core on board. McGee also picks up the Owner Points from On Point Motorsports’ #30, which is not entered this week after their most recent entry with Chris Hacker last fall at Phoenix. Taking McGee’s place with Reaume’s own flagship #33 – and Tyler Ankrum’s Owner Points from the Hattori team – is Lawless Alan, who with sponsor AUTOChargit Mobile comes over from Niece Motorsports’ #45. Alan is replaced by a returning veteran in Johnny Sauter, who we haven’t seen in the Truck Series since his last-place run for Roper Racing at North Wilkesboro last spring. Sauter’s rank in Owner Points has gone to Faction 46’s new team.
RETURNING: #28-FDNY Racing
Back in action is veteran team owner Jim Rosenblum and the FDNY Racing team, bringing back driver Bryan Dauzat and sponsor O.B. Builders. Dauzat qualified for last fall’s Talladega race, but had handling issues after only five laps.
RETURNING: #32-Bret Holmes Racing
Also back in action is Bret Holmes, who scaled back his single-truck effort late last season after running several races without a sponsor. He now returns with Precision Garage Door as his backer.
DRIVER CHANGE: #38-Front Row Motorsports
One of the most anticipated driver-team combinations in the Truck Series this year has to be Front Row’s #38 – a championship challenger and Daytona winner the last two seasons with Zane Smith – and the up-and-coming Layne Riggs, who finally secures a full-time ride. In just six series starts, Riggs has nearly won each of the last two races at IRP, taking home 7th in his series debut and 3rd in his most recent start last summer, and has completed all but eight laps with no DNFs. With Zane Smith now in Spire’s #71 Cup Series entry en route to Trackhouse, Riggs now has all the tools he needs to succeed.
DRIVER CHANGE: #42-Niece Motorsports
Joining Zane Smith in the Cup Series at Spire is fellow Rookie of the Year competitor Carson Hocevar, who despite a strong race at Bristol found himself the center of controversy for his role in last November’s Truck Series championship race. With Hocevar’s graduation comes another opportunity for Matt Mills, who has reinvigorated his career by racing in the Truck Series. Last fall, Mills earned a strong 5th in a demanding race at Richmond, then driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Now with Hocevar’s championship ride with Niece, and continued sponsorship from J.F. Electric and Utilitra, Mills has his first opportunity at a full-time Truck ride.
NEW TEAM: #46-Faction 46
TEAM CLOSED: #46-G2G Racing
Remember Thad Moffitt? After back-to-back top-ten seasons in ARCA, Moffitt made four Truck Series starts at the beginning of the 2022 season, beginning with the iconic STP colors in a Josh Reaume prepared #43. Absent from the series since his last start at Knoxville for Young’s Motorsports later that year, he returns to competition with a brand-new team in Faction 46, and will compete for Rookie of the Year. The team has also secured the Owner Points from Niece’s #45 entry. Faction 46 is not affiliated with G2G Racing, which had planned to announce a new truck number for the 2024 season after campaigning the #46 in the past, most recently last fall at Homestead. Those plans have since changed as it was revealed G2G is auctioning off their equipment in an apparent closure.
DRIVER CHANGE: #56-Hill Motorsports
After splitting the ride with brother Tyler Hill, who piloted the #56 in the most recent Phoenix race last fall, Timmy Hill will drive the family Toyota full-time in 2024, thanks to increased support from sponsors Coble Enterprises and UNITS. Timmy, who finished runner-up to Jeremy Clements in the XFINITY race here in 2022, has finished 14th, 14th, and 16th in his previous three Truck races at Daytona.
MISSING: #66-ThorSport Racing
While Conner Jones is expected to compete against both Riggs and Moffitt for Rookie of the Year, ThorSport has not entered him in the #66 this week. Jones most recently competed in the series last fall at Phoenix.
RETURNING: #95-GK Racing
Clay Greenfield and the Backyard Blues Pools entry are back for the first time since last fall at Talladega, where mechanical issues kept them from attempting to qualify. The start-up team from last season eyes a better result at a track where Greenfield has made six starts, including a 34th-place run last year – his first since 2019.
RETURNING: #97-CR7 Motorsports
With Grant Enfinger piloting the flagship #9 entry at his team, Codie Rohrbaugh will look to find his way back to the front as he had in 2020, when he finished 3rd in this race and 5th in Talladega later that year. He again pilots his team’s part-time second entry, the #97, and will enter Jason Kitzmiller in Saturday’s ARCA race.
DRIVER CHANGE: #02-Young’s Motorsports
A late announcement this past Monday revealed that Mason Massey will take the place of Phoenix starter Kaden Honeycutt in this #02 entry, bringing back his continuing sponsor Brunt. Massey qualified for his first Truck race at Daytona last year, finishing 24th with the Reaume Brothers.
DRIVER CHANGE: #04-Roper Racing
Like Rohrbaugh, Cory Roper has unfinished business at Daytona, where he was seconds away from the checkered flag in 2021 before he wound up 3rd. Roper takes over for Phoenix starter Spencer Davis and carries sponsorship from Fly Alliance and CarQuest.
CUP INVADERS: #7-Corey LaJoie
Saturday, February 17, 2024 (5:00 P.M. ET, FS1)
XFINITY Race 1 of 33
United Rentals 300 at Daytona
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Bayley Currey
ENTRY LIST
There are 44 entries for 38 spots in this year’s XFINITY opener, meaning six will be sent home.
DRIVER CHANGE: #2-Richard Childress Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #8-JR Motorsports
DRIVER SWAP: #18-Joe Gibbs Racing
Ten times a winner in the ARCA Series last year en route to the series championship – fully half the races run that year – Jesse Love will make his XFINITY Series debut in Daytona as the new driver of RCR’s #2 Whelen Chevrolet. Love was brought on to take the place of Sheldon Creed, who after a series of near-misses at his first career victory makes the move to Joe Gibbs Racing. Creed replaces Sammy Smith in the #18, and carries sponsorship from the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation for his latest full-time season. Smith, who most recently won the pole last November at Phoenix, makes the jump to JR Motorsports in the #8, replacing Josh Berry, who was promoted to Kevin Harvick’s ride at Stewart-Haas Racing for his own Rookie of the Year campaign. Smith retains his sponsorship from Pilot Flying J, TMC Transportation, and Allstate Peterbilt Group.
DRIVER SWAP: #4-JD Motorsports
RETURNING: #14-Kaulig Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
MISSING: #08-SS-Green Light Racing
Dawson Cram gets his first full-time shot at the XFINITY Series as the new driver of Johnny Davis’ #4 Chevrolet, which kicks off the year with a returning Mike’s Weather Page and Firman Power Equipment as sponsor. Competing for Rookie of the Year, Cram takes the place of Stefan Parsons, who ran the car most recently at Phoenix, and is only running the Truck Series race this weekend. Cram was most recently entered in Bobby Dotter’s #07 SS-Green Light Racing entry at Phoenix, a ride that this week goes to Patrick Emerling, co-owner of the #35 and #53 entries at Emerling-Gase Motorsports. This will be Dotter’s only car on the entry list as the #08 – most recently run by J.J. Yeley – offers its owner points to the returning part-time Kaulig Racing entry, #14, with Daniel Suarez and sponsorship from Wendy’s. Suarez, winner of the NASCAR Mexico Series opener in L.A., made his most recent XFINITY start with Kaulig last summer at Pocono, finishing 10th.
DRIVER SWAP / NUMBER CHANGE: #5-Our Motorsports
RETURNING / DRIVER SWAP: #29-RSS Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #78-B.J. McLeod Motorsports
Our Motorsports changes car numbers from the #02, which debuted with the team in 2020, to the #5 and brings on Anthony Alfredo, who comes over from B.J. McLeod Motorsports’ #78 bearing sponsorship from Dude Wipes. McLeod will pilot his own #78 as he, like Alfredo, plans a double-duty effort with the Cup Series. McLeod has sponsorship from Kales Truck Heavy Equipment. Blaine Perkins, who most recently drove for Our Motorsports, takes the wheel of RSS Racing’s returning #29 entry with AutoPARKIt.com as sponsor. Perkins receives the Owner Points from RSS’ #28, which becomes the new ride for Kyle Sieg in place of Joe Graf, Jr., who moves to Joe Gibbs Racing. C.J. McLaughlin kicks off another part-time schedule in Kyle’s former ride, the #38, and gets Owner Points from Alpha Prime Racing’s #44 entry.
DRIVER CHANGE: #6-JD Motorsports
DRIVER SWAP: #10-Kaulig Racing
DRIVER SWAP: #44-Alpha Prime Racing
After a difficult 2023 season that began with a pair of DNQs with B.J. McLeod’s now shuttered #99 team (one due to the storms in Fontana), Smithley pieced together a part-time season by rejoining Johnny Davis’ team, most often in the #4. With Dawson Cram in the #4 for this season, Smithley slides into the #6, replacing Brennan Poole, who with Finance Pro Plus has become the sponsor of Alpha Prime Racing’s #44. Poole claims the Owner Points of his Alpha Prime teammate Ryan Ellis in the #43, and the returning Ellis retains the points from Alpha Prime’s third entry, the #45, again piloted by Caesar Bacarella in place of Phoenix starter Jeffrey Earnhardt, and carrying a psychedelic paint scheme for sponsor Prime Bites. Poole takes the place of Daniel Dye, the scheduled Phoenix starter of the #44, who will attempt double-duty with sponsor Champion Containers in the fleet Kaulig Racing #10. Dye takes the place of Daniel Hemric, who – following a number swap late last year with then-teammate Justin Haley - returns to full-time Cup competition in Kaulig’s #31, again in place of Haley.
DRIVER SWAP: #11-Kaulig Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #92-DGM Racing
After the disappointment of a DNQ for the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, Josh Williams begins his first full-time XFINITY season as a driver for Kaulig Racing. The popular Williams the place of Phoenix starter Derek Kraus in the #11, and brings with him longtime sponsor Alloy Employer Services. Williams parts ways with his longtime ride at DGM Racing in the #92, which this week goes to Josh Bilicki and his sponsor Zeigler Auto Group.
NEW TEAM: #15-AM Racing
MISSING: #25-AM Racing
After three full-time seasons in the Truck Series and a 13th-place finish in her 2022 XFINITY debut at Las Vegas, Hailie Deegan claims her first full-time XFINITY Series ride with AM Racing, carrying Klutch Vodka as sponsor. Deegan’s #15 essentially takes the place of the #25 of Brett Moffitt, the team’s 2023 driver, though reports indicate the #25 entry may return as a part-time effort this year. In the meantime, Deegan will inherit Moffitt’s Owner Points.
DRIVER CHANGE: #16-Kaulig Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
NEW TEAM: #81-Joe Gibbs Racing
Jumping back down from full-time Cup competition, A.J. Allmendinger returns for another full-time XFINITY Series campaign with Kaulig Racing, and prepares to run double-duty with Sunday’s Daytona 500. Allmendinger takes the place of last year’s standout Chandler Smith, who reunites with the Toyota camp at Joe Gibbs Racing. The 2023 Richmond winner will pilot JGR’s returning #81 entry, employing the Owner Points from JGR’s “all-star” #19 entry, and carries sponsorship from Mobil 1. The #19 will return to action as well and remains the “all-star” car, beginning with Ryan Truex, who takes the place of Phoenix starter Myatt Snider. Snider is not in this year’s lineup, which consists of Joe Graf, Jr., Taylor Gray, and William Sawalich.
TEAM UPDATE: #20-Joe Gibbs Racing
While John Hunter Nemechek will run full-time in the Cup Series for the first time since 2020 as Legacy Motor Club’s new driver of the #42 Toyota, it was announced Monday he will also run the first five XFINITY races – plus five more of the remaining 28 - in his 2023 ride with JGR.
MISSING: #24-Sam Hunt Racing
DRIVER CHANGE: #26-Sam Hunt Racing
With Kaz Grala returning to the Cup Series in a combined effort with Rick Ware Racing and Front Row Motorsports, the Sam Hunt team has scaled back from two entries to only the flagship #26, previously Grala’s ride. Running the car this week is Sage Karam, who enjoyed one of the team’s best-ever runs in a near-victory last season at Road America. The shuttered #24 team’s Owner Points move to Emerling-Gase Motorsports’ #35 to replace the points claimed by Patrick Emerling for his Bobby Dotter entry. Those points are assigned to actor-turned-racer Frankie Muniz, who after a solid ARCA season will make his first XFINITY Series attempt in the #35. Muniz’ Ford-sponsored Mustang will be joined by teammate and team co-owner Joey Gase in the #53 with returning sponsorship from the National Crime Prevention Council.
RETURNING: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing
Jordan Anderson and crew chief Larry McReynolds are back in action at Daytona in a third Jordan Anderson Racing entry, the #32, with sponsorship from Capital City Towing and Bommarito. The duo finished 15th in their return to the Daytona track last summer.
RETURNING: #36-DGM Racing
Mario Gosselin brings back the #36 for Natalie Decker to run with sponsorship from Amped Fitness. This would be Decker’s 11th series start and first since Daytona last August, when she finished 35th for Emerling-Gase after a mid-race crash. That race was her only previous XFINITY start on the Daytona oval.
NEW TEAM: #42-Young’s Motorsports
After the aforementioned scaling back of their Truck Series efforts, and following 12 seasons with a combined 472 entries coming into 2024, team owner Randy Young fields his first-ever XFINITY Series entry. For this effort, Young has brought Leland Honeyman, Jr. from Alpha Prime Racing and placed him into his first full-time season. Honeyman, the last-minute substitute for an injured Daniel Dye last fall at Phoenix, carries sponsorship from Ohio Logistics on the #42, one of Young’s previous truck numbers in that series. Honeyman will likewise compete for Rookie of the Year.
DRIVER CHANGE: #66-Motorsports Business Management
With Timmy Hill committed to full-time competition in the Truck Series, David Starr reunites with Carl Long at MBM, piloting the #66 with GreenLightPP.com as sponsor. This would be Starr’s 259th series start and first since the conclusion of a five-race stint last year that saw him drive for Our Motorsports, Emerling Gase, and SS-Green Light. Starr last drove for Long in the 2021 finale at Phoenix, where he finished 21st.
DRIVER CHANGE: #74-Mike Harmon Racing
Last season saw racing veteran Stanton Barrett make his return to NASCAR for the first time in three years with a pair of starts at Road America and Watkins Glen in Emerling-Gase’s #35, achieving finishes of 24th and 32nd. He this time takes the wheel of Mike Harmon’s #74, replacing Brad Perez, who DNQ’d at Phoenix following a crash early in qualifying. As Perez prepares for his series return with Alpha Prime, Barrett carries sponsorship from Save22 for what he hopes will be his 9th XFINITY start at Daytona and first since 2010.
NEW TEAM: #97-Kaulig Racing
In the season following his stunning Cup Series victory in his debut on the Chicago Street Course, Shane Van Gisbergen kicks off his own Rookie of the Year bid as the full-time driver of Kaulig’s #97 WeatherTech Chevrolet. Van Gisbergen has secured teammate Allmendinger’s Owner Points in the #16 as Allmendinger uses the points from the #10, meaning Daniel Dye’s #10 entry will need to qualify on time.
CUP INVADERS: #14-Daniel Suarez, #20-John Hunter Nemechek
Sunday, February 18, 2024 (2:30 P.M. ET, FOX)
CUP Race 1 of 36
Daytona 500 at Daytona
2023 Last-Place Finisher: Ty Dillon
The Cup Series then kicks off with “The Great American Race!”
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (February 15, 1953): Frank Arford picked up the first last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career when his #78 1953 Oldsmobile blew a gasket after two laps around the Daytona Beach Road Course. Arford had qualified fifth in the field of 57. Bob Pronger, the polesitter, fared little better, finishing 51st after a crash on Lap 6.
