Benefiting from the Open Exemption Provisional, seven-time NASCAR Cup Sequence champion Jimmie Johnson can have a assured spot within the 68th working of the Daytona 500.
The Open Exemption Provisional, which was created one 12 months in the past, may be utilized by a non-chartered crew with a world-class driver to make sure them spot on the grid for any race the place the sector eclipses the utmost variety of allowed entries (40). Johnson’s use of the OEP ensures a discipline of 41 automobiles for subsequent month’s season-opener.
By choosing the assured spot, Johnson won’t earn any purse cash, nor will he purchase any factors from the occasion. The rule has developed over the previous 12 months, and beforehand, a driver may try to qualify on their very own after which fall again on the OEP if wanted. That’s not the case, which suggests there are nonetheless 4 open spots on the grid and with Johnson counting on the OEP, there shall be 41 starters.
The OEP has solely been used as soon as earlier than when four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves and the Challenge 91 Trackhouse Racing entry relied on it in final 12 months’s Daytona 500.Â
Johnson shall be piloting the No. 84 Legacy Motor Membership Toyota as a teammate to Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek. The NASCAR Corridor of Famer is a two-time winner of the Daytona 500, successful the occasion in 2006 and 2013.
Johnson retired from full-time competitors after the 2020 season, however has since made a handful of appearances as a driver/proprietor at Legacy. Final 12 months, he evaded a wild last-lap crash to earn a third-place end within the Daytona 500.Â
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