Who's In, Who's Out: Daytona 500 Qualifying Explained

The Clash is over. On to Daytona.

How is the lineup set for the Daytona 500? 

It can be a little complicated. Or a lot complicated. And we’re here to explain everything to you.

Related: Daytona 500 Odds & Insight

The Daytona 500 field will consist of 41 cars.

There are 37 drivers who know they are in the field:

— The 36 drivers of teams that have charters: AJ Allmendinger, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson, Denny Hamlin, Riley Herbst, Carson Hocevar, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Michael McDowell, John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Preece, Tyler Reddick, Zane Smith, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suarez, Shane van Gisbergen, Bubba Wallace, Cody Ware and Connor Zilisch.

— Jimmie Johnson, driving a non-chartered (open) car, is guaranteed a spot in the field by using the open exemption provisional, which is available to an elite driver in motorsports who doesn't race full time. By electing to use the provisional (the rules changed from a year ago to require him to commit to using the provisional before the race weekend), he forfeits all points and purse.

There are eight open entries (disclaimer: the entry list won’t be final until Wednesday) that will vie for the final four spots: Anthony Alfredo, Justin Allgaier, Corey Heim, Corey LaJoie, B.J. McLeod, Casey Mears, Chandler Smith and JJ Yeley.

Those four spots are determined through single-car qualifying (two spots) and then the duels (two spots).

Will Jimmie Johnson, racing his non-chartered open car, win at Daytona in 2026?

Wednesday: Front Row Set

On Wednesday, drivers will make single-car, single-lap qualifying runs. The order will be selected by random draw, with the drivers who were in the top 20 in 2025 owner points filling the final 20 spots in the order. 

The top 10 in qualifying speed will advance to a final round. The fastest car in the final round will be on the pole for the Daytona 500. The second-fastest car will be beside him on the front row.

The two fastest among the open drivers know they will be in the Daytona 500. The other six drivers will have to earn a spot in the duels. In previous years, there was the possibility that the third-fastest and fourth-fastest cars could get in on their speed, but the rules changed for 2026.

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Thursday: The Duels

Beyond the front row, the remainder of the field is set by 150-mile qualifying races, commonly referred to as The Duels.

The 45 cars will be split relatively evenly, with 23 cars in the first duel and 22 cars in the second duel. The lineups are set by the qualifying times Wednesday. 

The 36 charter teams, plus Johnson, will be split among the two duels, with the first duel lined up with those ranking first, third, fifth and so on, from qualifying while the second duel having those ranking second, fourth, sixth and so on.

The eight open cars will be split among the two duels, with those first, third, fifth and seventh in qualifying speed in the first duel; those second, fourth, sixth and eighth in the second duel. Where they line up in those duels will be where their qualifying speed puts them among the chartered cars.

The top-finishing open driver in each duel who is not locked into the field through qualifying makes the Daytona 500.

The results of the first duel, using the finishing order for those who are in the Daytona 500, will set the Daytona 500 inside rows 2-21; the results of the second duel will set the Daytona 500 outside rows 2-20.