Nine open entries battling for a place in 2025 Detona 500

The race to make 2025 Detona 500 can only be exciting as 500 with the largest area of ​​’open’ entries in a decade. The entrances have two former cup champions and a four -time winner of Indianapolis 500. Finally, nine drivers will be fighting for the last four spots on the grid (potentially five spots but we will tell that a little later). First, let’s meet drivers and teams who will be battling to be a part of the 67th running of ‘The Great American Race’.

Corey Lajoi – Number 01 Rick Ware Racing Ford

Corey Lajoi is at a crossroads in his cup career. After a hard 2024, where he struggled for the results and the teams were forced to change the middle-season, it was not clear if we would see them on the track this year. It is not a full -time ride, but he has received a partial program with Rick Ware Racing, running a number that has not been seen at the cup level in 17 years (and pays homage to his ‘Stacking Penise’ mantra) . He is a fully capable superspedway racer with fourth -ranked finish in previous year’s Detona 500, but if he wants to start the ninth consecutive consecutive consecutive consecutive consecutively, he will have to defeat some really impressive names.

Justin Angier – Number 40 Junior Motorsports Chevrolet

Arnhard -owned organization is finally going to cup racing. With the support of sponsorship from Mighty Hendric Motorsports and Country Music Legend Chris Stapelton, he has put a team together for 500 of this year. Xfinity series champion Justin Angier’s defending number 40 will pilot Chevi and while he is an experienced cup racer, he has not participated in the event since 2015.

JJ Yelle – No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet

A true Dalit story. Yelle is a experienced trip to a experienced trip with around 400 cups in the last two decades. In his ten Detaona 500 attempts, he has failed to make shows on four occasions. His last beginning in the last few years, despite three attempts with three separate teams, ten years ago, which always ended in a DNQ. The last season was particularly cruel because he somehow found himself in a transfer spot, defeating seven -time cup champion Jimmy Johnson in one stroke in moments. Unfortunately, a stack-up in the last corner opened the door for Johnson and deprived Yale from a place in a big race. And beyond two cups of champions in this list, Yale is the most experienced driver ever trying to make his way in the show.

Martin Truex Junior – Number 56 Tricon Garage Toyota

It is a complicated. The 2017 NASCAR Cup Champions retired from a full -time competition later last year, but he is still searching for the victory of that elusive Detaona 500. He will be in an unfamiliar region as an open entry, but will get strong support from Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing (his former team). The organization for which he is officially driving is the Tricon Garage, which is a truck chain operation, hoping to make his first start in the cup series. The Truex has 20 of the 500 previous appearances, but zero win. Note, he will reunite with his former crew head Cole Pieran, who directed Trux for the Cup title in 2017. We will see if he can guide him in the Detona 500 against a pile area of ​​rivals.

Anthony Alfredo – Number 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet

Beard Motorsports is a part -time team that runs especially superspeedways. Partly due to his close ties with RCR, he has some impressive performances, including a top-five finish. It will mark the ninth consecutive year, they have tried 500, only remembered it twice. History Antony Alfredo and Beard Motisports as a pair of them, had already done 500 together a year ago.

Chandler Smith – No. 66 (East MBM Motorsports) Garage 66 Ford

The story of this entry is a recommended with Garage 66 – who was recently known as MBM Motorsports – after NASCAR scrambled to find a driver after NASCAR, threw a wrench in his original plans. Experienced driver Mike Wallace was set to pilot for entry, but it was announced that the 65 -year -old man had received official approval from NASCAR. With a supersedway begins in more than a decade, NASCAR decided against allowing Wallace to try 500, which made him happy. The team filed a public petition for any driver with funding, which would be interested in driving the car as a replacement for the valleus, as well as going through its ‘Garage 66’ Rebrand. Eventually, he secured the young racer Chandler Smith, who has won at XFINITY and truck levels. Smith was uncertain if he would be running this year even after losing his full -time Xfinity ride, but since he got a landing spot in the truck chain. This will be his second Detona 500 attempt, which failed to make the show two years ago.

BJ McLeod – Number 78 Live Fast Motisports Chevrolet

Driver/owner BJ McLeod earned a major salary when he sold his charter for $ 40 million two years ago and has become a part -time driver since then showing for the events here and there. He starts five in 500, but failed to race in his first year as an open entry in 2024. While Auds are against him, he has a lot of friends in the garage and this is something you always need on a drafting track like Detona.

Jimmy Johnson – Number 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

The seven-time NASCAR Cup series champion is back again, driving the car that he is a co-owner in the hope of making his 22nd start in 500. Johnson has won the race twice, but even with his widespread experience behind the wheel, he survives narrowly missing missing missing. Show a year ago. It was a nail-biting finish with Johnson, making the required pass in the last second of his duality. This year, he will once again enter the third entry for his organization as a team partner of John-Hunter Nemchek and Eric Jones. Johnson is also partnership with basketball legend Shaka for his 500 efforts.

Helio Castrones – Number 91 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet

In history, only two drivers have won both Indie 500 and Detona 500 and they are the famous Mario Andereti and AJ Foits. Helio is aiming to become a team with a team with Project 91 program of Trackhouse. The car depicts both Kimi Riconon and Shane Van Gisbergen in the past, a shock win in the 2023 Chicago Street Course Race, which serves as a launching pad for SVG’s naskar career. Helio is in a unique position as an open entry as he is not feeling the pressure of eight other people in this list. He deserves the newly-made ‘open exemption provisional’, which NASCAR says that “world class drivers” will be made available and guarantees them a location in the region. If helio fails to race on merit, the fifth open space will be added to the grid, which will make the car count to 41 for Sunday’s race.

Race to make race

Except for helio, the remaining eight teams will make a lot of efforts in qualifying day, except for helio, where they can control their fate a little more to follow the sprint race. The single-car qualifying sets the grid for two dialectical races, but more importantly, the two fastest open entries will automatically lock themselves in the field. Ongier has the best shot to take that route with hendric power under the possibility of hood, but it is no guarantee. For six drivers who do not eliminate their concerns in qualifying, their fate will be fixed during the twin 150-mile heat race.

In the duality race, the team partner and producer alliance will be paramount on the 2.5-mile supersedeway where the draft is everything. Some drivers are more fortunate than others in the field, such as Truex and Johnson while Yelle and Smith’s choice will probably be against themselves. Open entries will be divided evenly between the two duality war races, and the most finishing from each duality war will take the final two spots on the open entry grid. Now, even if one of those two drivers who lock through qualifying speed, even defeat other open entries in their respective duel war race, things become slightly more complicated. Whether one of them should draw such an achievement, qualifying closes the third fastest open entry to the show. If they manage to make both qualifying and the rest of the open fields the best in the race, the third and fourth fastest open entries from qualifying will include them in the 67th run of Detona 500. Again, the importance of merit cannot be understood.

This is the largest open penetration zone since the system was introduced in 2016, and has never had an open entry to win 500 500. Ryan Preis performed any best when he made his way to the field for 2021 Detona 500 and finished sixth. With the caliber of drivers and teams entering this year, it can definitely change and the duality race is filled with both high emotions and entertaining plays. When the smoke is cleared on Thursday, four to five drivers will collapse their 500 hopes as the entire area of ​​the beginning is confirmed for the 67th run of the Crown Jewel event of NASCAR.