The fourth and last crown jewel within the NASCAR Cup season is that this weekend, because the 2026 version of The Chase will get underway at Darlington Raceway. This weekend, the historic observe will host the 77th working of the Southern 500, which has been part of the Cup schedule since 1950.
38 drivers are groups are coming into this weekend’s race, the bottom for any crown jewels this 12 months but in addition akin to earlier years at Darlington. The season-opening Daytona 500 featured 45 entries, whereas 39 automobiles entered the Coca-Cola 600 and in addition the Brickyard 400.
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The 2 open entries are Corey Heim within the No. 67 Toyota for 23XI Racing and Chad Finchum within the No. 66 Ford for Storage 66.
Chase Briscoe received the Southern 500 in each 2024 and 2025, and is trying to grow to be the primary driver to win the occasion in three consecutive years since Jeff Gordon received 4 consecutively between 1995 and 1998.
Riley Herbst, who was changed by Harrison Burton at Daytona as he suffered from the “lingering results” of a crash at New Hampshire, is presently listed as the driving force of the No. 35.
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Learn Additionally:
Darlington NASCAR Viewer’s Information: All the pieces you should know for the Southern 500
2026 NASCAR Cup Southern 500 at Darlington entry checklist
No.
Driver
Workforce
Producer
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet
2
Austin Cindric
Workforce Penske
Ford
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
4
Noah Gragson
Entrance Row Motorsports
Ford
5
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
6
Brad Keselowski
RFK Racing
Ford
7
Daniel Suarez
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet
9
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
10
Ty Dillon
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
12
Ryan Blaney
Workforce Penske
Ford
16
AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet
17
Chris Buescher
RFK Racing
Ford
19
Chase Briscoe
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
20
Christopher Bell
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
21
Josh Berry
Wooden Brothers Racing
Ford
22
Joey Logano
Workforce Penske
Ford
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
Toyota
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
33
Austin Hill
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
34
Todd Gilliland
Entrance Row Motorsports
Ford
35
Riley Herbst
23XI Racing
Toyota
38
Zane Smith
Entrance Row Motorsports
Ford
41
Cole Custer
Haas Manufacturing facility Workforce
Chevrolet
42
John Hunter Nemechek
Legacy Motor Membership
Toyota
43
Erik Jones
Legacy Motor Membership
Toyota
45
Tyler Reddick
23XI Racing
Toyota
47
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Hyak Motorsports
Chevrolet
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
51
Cody Ware
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet
54
Ty Gibbs
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
60
Ryan Preece
RFK Racing
Ford
66
Chad Finchum
Storage 66
Ford
67
Corey Heim
23XI Racing
Toyota
71
Michael McDowell
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet
77
Carson Hocevar
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet
88
Connor Zilisch
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet
97
Shane van Gisbergen
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet
Open entries italicized
Watch: Race Rewind: Preece wins his manner into The Chase at Daytona
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