How to watch the Daytona 500 and what to watch for in 'The Great American Race'

William Byron will try to become the first driver in history to win the Daytona 500 three consecutive years when the 68th running of “The Great American Race” opens the NASCAR season on Sunday.

Byron won last year’s event in overtime after race leader Denny Hamlin got spun on the final lap, igniting a multicar crash. Byron ended up passing eight cars on the last lap to return to victory lane.

Can he make it three in a row? Four others — Richard Petty in 1975, Cale Yarborough in 1985, Sterling Marlin in 1996 and Hamlin in 2021 — came up short in threepeat bids at NASCAR’s signature race.

The field includes seven other previous Daytona 500 winners, most notably three-time winner Hamlin and seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson. Hamlin is trying to bounce back from a heartbreaking loss in the 2025 season finale and the December death of his father. Johnson, meanwhile, is again driving the No. 84 Toyota for his team, Legacy Motor Club.

This will be the first non-exhibition race since NASCAR and two teams — 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports — settled a federal antitrust lawsuit that threatened the series. The outcome guaranteed permanent charters for 36 teams.

The offseason also included the death of retired driver Greg Biffle, who was among seven people killed when his plane crashed in North Carolina just a week before Christmas.

The race will be aired on Fox. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick are in the booth. Larry McReynolds provides analysis. Jamie Little, Regan Smith and Josh Sims cover pit road. Fox Deportes, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio also offer live broadcasts, and the race will be streamed on the Fox One and the Fox Sports app.

The green flag drops shortly after 2:30 p.m. EST.

Kyle Busch earned his first Daytona 500 pole, landing the No. 1 starting position during qualifying Wednesday. It came as he gets ready to start his 21st Daytona 500 and tries to end the longest current skid in the garage.

“We just got to get the job done so we can stop talking about it,” Busch said.

Chase Briscoe also will start on the front row.

Justin Allgaier and Corey Heim secured two of the four open spots during pole qualifying. Casey Mears and B.J. McLeod locked up the final two spots in the field through 150-qualifying races Thursday night.

Corey LaJoie, Chandler Smith and JJ Yeley failed to qualify for the Daytona 500. Anthony Alfredo initially earned the final spot in the starting lineup in the second qualifier, but NASCAR disqualified his car and the berth went to McLeod.

Allgaier drives for Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose famous father died 25 years ago following a last-lap crash at the Daytona 500.

Former series champions Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano are the favorites (plus-1200), with Hamlin and Byron close behind at plus-1400, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

The defending series champion is Kyle Larson. And keep an eye on 19-year-old driver Connor Zilisch, who won 10 races in the Xfinity Series last season and is considered a rising star.

Comedian Nate Bargatze will serve as the grand marshal and give the command for drivers to start their engines. Actor Kurt Russell is the honorary pace car driver, and country music singer Miranda Lambert will perform a pre-race concert.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

FILE - Connor Zilisch smiles prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, May 25, 2025, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)

FILE - Denny Hamlin smiles prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Oct. 5, 2025, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)

FILE - Kyle Larson looks on prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Darlington Raceway, Aug. 31, 2025, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)

Driver William Byron works on the track during a NASCAR Daytona 500 practice, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Daytona, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

PHOENIX (AP) — Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Chamique Holdsclaw and the 1996 U.S. Olympic women's basketball team will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later this year.

Parker, Holdsclaw and members of the 1996 Olympic team were all in attendance as well as Amar’e Stoudemire and Mike D’Antoni.

They will be joined by longtime NBA official Joey Crawford, NBA coach Doc Rivers and Gonzaga coach Mark Few.

The group was announced at halftime of the women's Final Four with many members in attendance.

Parker won three titles in the WNBA with three teams: Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas. She's the only player in league history to win both the MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season.

She also won two titles while playing in college for Tennessee under Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, two Olympic gold medals and two WNBA MVP awards.

Delle Donne won two league MVP awards in 2015 and 2019, the second of which came when she led the Washington Mystics to their lone WNBA championship. Delle Donne became the first player in league history to shoot over 50% from the field, 40% from behind the 3-point line and 90% from the free throw line.

Holdsclaw won three straight titles at Tennessee from 1996-98, the first team to accomplish that. The 1998 championship was Tennessee’s first undefeated season at 39–0 and the Vols also set an NCAA record for the most wins in a season. Holdsclaw went on to an 11-year WNBA career.

Stoudemire, who was the only NBA player in this year's class, was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003 and six-time All-Star. He spent the first eight years of his career with the Phoenix Suns, where he teamed with D'Antoni.

Rivers got nearly 1,200 victories on his resume which puts him eighth on the all-time wins list. He led the Boston Celtics to the NBA championship in 2008 and was also in charge of the Los Angeles Clippers during their Lob City era.

Few has won over 770 games at Gonzaga in his career at the school. He set the NCAA Division I men's coaching record by winning 81 games in his first three years at the school.

Crawford officiated 2,561 regular-season NBA games and 50 Finals games over his 39-year career. He retired in 2016.

The enshrinement ceremony will take place in August at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

FILE - Tennessee's Candace Parker (3) passes around North Carolina's La'Tangela Atkinson in the first half of the NCAA college basketball tournament regional final, Tuesday, March 28, 2006, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)