This year, several drivers (and a few others) are chasing Daytona 500 history, looking to break long-standing records. So, with just a few weeks till the Daytona 500, here are five historic storylines to keep up with.
Looking aside from the four specific drivers on this list, there are quite a few names to look out for. Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski are still chasing Daytona as they enter attempts 20 and 16, respectively. Furthermore, names like Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, and Michael McDowell, among others, are chasing their second wins.
Perhaps the main storyline throughout the past few seasons has been the many open, or non-charter, entries in the race. These entries typically take up four slots in the 40-car field, though this can vary with NASCAR’s Open Exemption Provisional (OEP), and have become more and more competitive throughout the past few seasons.
Last year, for the first time since the charter system’s 2016 introduction, two open cars finished in the top ten: Johnson and JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier. This year, there are up to eight potential open entries, including Johnson, entered as an OEP driver, and Allgaier, who could be the first open driver to win the 500.
After a breakout year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, in which he fell just shy of a championship, Connor Zilisch is set to make his full-time NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2026 with Trackhouse Racing.
There is a lot of pressure on Zilisch to execute well this year, as the road course ace proved last season that his age and road course experience would not hinder his overall performance across different styles of racing.
One type of track that Zilisch performed well at but fell short of winning at was (technically) Superspeedways. Though Zilisch won the summer race at Daytona with Parker Kligerman filling in as a substitute driver, the 19-year-old had a 25.7 average finish in races he started and finished at Superspeedways.
But if he can pull off the win at the Daytona 500, Zilisch can start the season in impressive fashion and make his mark as the youngest driver (19 years 6 months 24 days old) to win the 500, breaking Trevor Bayne’s 2011 record when he was 20 years 1 day old.
Parallel to Zilisch is Jimmie Johnson. Johnson is a two-time winner of the 500, having brought home a Harley J. Earl in 2006 and 2013. He last raced full-time in 2020, but, since 2023, the seven-time Cup Series Champion, now a team owner with Legacy Motor Club, has raced part-time.
These starts are sporadic, with Johnson racing at tracks that mean something to him, like Charlotte Motor Speedway, or at venues he has yet to race at during his career, like Circuit of the Americas in 2023.
But every year since 2023, Johnson has competed in the Daytona 500 and will do so this year as an Open Exemption Provisional driver. This means Johnson makes the race no matter what due to his status as a world-class driver, and, even though he will not take home any prize money or points for his effort, he is credited with his finishing position.
If Johnson can score the victory at Daytona, following up his outstanding run last season, he would be the first OEP driver to win a NASCAR race and the oldest driver, sitting at 50 years, 4 months, 29 days old, to win the 500 breaking fellow Hall of Famer Bobby Allision’s 1988 record, when he won at 50 years 2 months 11 days old.
Johnson’s former Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron is a back-to-back winner of the Daytona 500. Though Byron may not have been the best car each year, the defending champ found himself in a prime spot to take the lead during late crashes in 2024 and 2025.
Byron is just one of five drivers to win back-to-back 500s, a list that includes legends like:
Of course, no driver has won three Dayton 500s in a row. In fact, drivers going for three in a row have an average finish of 22, with Hamlin’s 2021 fifth-place finish, in which he led 98 laps, being the most impressive run among back-to-back winners.
Though Hamlin failed to win his third in a row all those years ago, he has flirted with history every year since.
This year, Byron and Johnson have a shot at joining the three-time winners club, but Hamlin has another shot at joining rare air.
The 45-year-old sits as one of four drivers to win the 500 three times, and, as the only active driver, has a chance at winning four, something only done by two other drivers on NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list, Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty.
Petty, a seven-time winner of the 500, is hard to catch, but Hamlin has a real go at tying or even surpassing Yarborough’s four wins.
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