DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A controversial new NASCAR rule designed for “world-class drivers" could give Helio Castroneves an automatic berth into the Daytona 500, and, should the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner use the provisional, it would make for the largest field in a decade.
It's a complicated rule that was written into the charter agreement that 13 teams signed last September and is similar to a “promoters provisional” in that it gives NASCAR the ability to designate one driver as a guaranteed 41st entry.
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FILE Martin Truex Jr. interacts with spectators while walking down a runway during driver introductions before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Aug. 24, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, file)
FILE - Jimmie Johnson walks out during driver introductions for the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 19, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, file)
FILE - Helio Castroneves is introduced before the IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix auto race in Detroit, June 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file)
FILE - Helio Castroneves, of Brazil, talks with other drivers during a practice session for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
Three-time Daytona 500 Denny Hamlin winner said the rule “reeks of desperation” by NASCAR, calling it nothing but a gimmick to attract big stars to stock car racing. Others wondered why the provisional went to Castroneves, who at 49 will be making his NASCAR debut, instead of seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, a two-time Daytona 500 winner.
The rule is designed for drivers who don't currently race full time in NASCAR, so Johnson and 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. would have been eligible for consideration for the provisional.
But their teams never put in the request, which must be done 90 days before the event. Only Trackhouse Racing requested the provisional for Castroneves, who enters Wednesday's qualifying as the only driver eligible for the 41st spot.
“I think Jimmie Johnson is a world-class driver, but I guess other people don’t,” Alex Bowman said. "It’s an interesting rule for sure. There’s a lot of hype and importance to the sport to have people like (Castroneves) that come in and, if they miss the race, it kind of hurts the whole thing.
"So I get it, but I also wish some of our past champions were respected in the same way in some sense.”
Castroneves will use the provisional only if he fails in traditional qualifying to claim one of the four open spots in what was supposed to be a 40-car field. If he uses it, the 41 cars will be the most in the Daytona 500 since 2015, when 43 cars was still standard.
Trackhouse and Castroneves also won't receive any points or payouts if he's the 41st driver, and all drivers who finish behind him will be moved up one position in the standings.
The rule has divided the field, even though it probably will come into play only at Daytona International Speedway, where nine drivers are vying for the four open spots. NASCAR's charter system guarantees entry to 36 cars every race.
“Aside from the Daytona 500, we don’t get in a spot very often where drivers of that caliber are going home," Tyler Reddick said. "I don’t know where to fall on this. On one hand, I would hate for a guy like Lewis Hamilton to come over here and attempt to start the 500... (and) something keeps him from running the race. We also don’t just want to let them have a spot in the race — like, they have to earn it.”
Logically, if multiple drivers had requested the provisional, the most sense would have been for it to go to the highest qualifier.
Nope.
If NASCAR does receive multiple requests, NASCAR will decide who the designated “world-class driver” is ahead of the event. The criteria listed in the charter for the rule states "the “Open Exemption” position is intended for a driver who will significantly impact the promotion of the event and grow the prominence of the sport.
In a competition briefing held for media last month, a hypothetical scenario was posed about what NASCAR would do if seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton, four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen, six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon and Johnson, who is also a NASCAR Hall of Famer, all put in a request for the same race.
“I’d love to have that problem,” said John Probst, NASCAR senior vice president of racing development.
NASCAR could have that problem later this year when it goes to Mexico City, where several teams are exploring deals to enter Juan Pablo Montoya in the race, and who knows who could show up at a road course — Shane van Gisbergen was brought into the inaugural street race at Chicago, won it and by the end of the year had left his Australian V8 Supercars career behind for NASCAR.
At Indianapolis in 2023, former F1 drivers Jenson Button and Kamui Kobayashi were both in the field, while Button was part of the same field as Kimi Raikkonen to make it two F1 world champions in the 2023 race at Circuit of the Americas.
“I can argue both sides of the fence. You’d hate to have a Helio Castroneves, a Max Verstappen, a Lewis Hamilton or someone come in to run a race and then miss the show due to something silly,” Chase Elliott said. "So I can certainly see that aspect of it from a promoter. But I also think that with prestigious races, there should be some sort of integrity in making the show.
"I think that’s part of what makes the race prestigious. You know, it’s a hard event to make. I think you see that with the Indianapolis 500, or you see that at the Chili Bowl, right? It’s a hard race to make. It’s a big deal just to get into the show. I just don’t want to ever degrade or hurt the long-term integrity of the sport and take the prestige out of events that should be some of our biggest days of the year.”
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
FILE Martin Truex Jr. interacts with spectators while walking down a runway during driver introductions before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Aug. 24, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, file)
FILE - Jimmie Johnson walks out during driver introductions for the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 19, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, file)
FILE - Helio Castroneves is introduced before the IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix auto race in Detroit, June 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file)
FILE - Helio Castroneves, of Brazil, talks with other drivers during a practice session for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.
In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.
Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.
Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.
But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.
More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.
The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.
“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”
Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.
People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.
More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .
“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.
The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.
Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.
While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.
“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."
The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.
Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”
"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.
Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”
The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.
Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.
A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
