The fourth and final crown jewel in the NASCAR Cup season is this weekend, as the 2026 edition of The Chase gets underway at Darlington Raceway. This weekend, the historic track will host the 77th running of the Southern 500, which has been a part of the Cup schedule since 1950.
38 drivers are teams are entering this weekend’s race, the lowest for any crown jewels this year but also comparable to previous years at Darlington. The season-opening Daytona 500 featured 45 entries, while 39 cars entered the Coca-Cola 600 and also the Brickyard 400.
The two open entries are Corey Heim in the No. 67 Toyota for 23XI Racing and Chad Finchum in the No. 66 Ford for Garage 66.
Chase Briscoe won the Southern 500 in both 2024 and 2025, and is attempting to become the first driver to win the event in three consecutive years since Jeff Gordon won four consecutively between 1995 and 1998.
Riley Herbst, who was replaced by Harrison Burton at Daytona as he suffered from the “lingering effects” of a crash at New Hampshire, is currently listed as the driver of the No. 35.
Read Also:
NASCAR CupDarlington NASCAR Viewer’s Guide: Everything you need to know for the Southern 500
2026 NASCAR Cup Southern 500 at Darlington entry list
No.
Driver
Team
Manufacturer
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet
2
Austin Cindric
Team Penske
Ford
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
4
Noah Gragson
Front 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
Team 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
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
22
Joey Logano
Team Penske
Ford
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
Toyota
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
33
Austin Hill
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
34
Todd Gilliland
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
35
Riley Herbst
23XI Racing
Toyota
38
Zane Smith
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
41
Cole Custer
Haas Factory Team
Chevrolet
42
John Hunter Nemechek
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota
43
Erik Jones
Legacy Motor Club
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
Garage 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 way into The Chase at Daytona
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