LOCALIZE IT: The Daytona 500 is here. Find a local connection to NASCAR's version of the Super Bowl

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:

NASCAR’s version of the Super Bowl — the Daytona 500 — is Sunday. It's the season opener and the signature event on the 36-race Cup Series schedule that runs until November.

“The Great American Race” has been held at Daytona International Speedway since its 1959 debut. This year is the 68th running, is a sellout and features William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports trying to make history by becoming the first driver to win three consecutive Daytona 500s.

The speedway is a 2 1/2-mile oval, and the race is 200 laps — unless it goes to overtime. Byron won last year’s event in OT 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. Byron switched to a backup car after crashing in a qualifying race Thursday night.

Forty other drivers, including seven previous Daytona 500 winners, will try to prevent Byron from taking the checkered flag again.

Kyle Larson is the defending series champ, winning it all for the second time in five years while driving for Hendrick. Larson edged fellow title contenders Hamlin, Byron and Chase Briscoe in the season finale.

Other notables in the field: Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 champ who is considered the best driver to never win a series title, will race with a heavy heart after the death of his father in a house fire; Kyle Busch is winless in 20 Daytona 500 starts, the longest current skid in the racing series; Brad Keselowski is racing two months after breaking his right leg and will have a relief driver standing by in case pain becomes an issue; and seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson is making his 701st Cup start, this one coming 20 years after his first of two Daytona 500 victories.

Scroll down for more info, including a list of drivers and their hometowns.

READ AP’S COVERAGE

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

AP Newsroom: Auto Racing

DAYTONA WARMUP: THE CLASH

The buildup to the Daytona 500 used to be called “Speedweeks” and spanned nearly two full weeks, with the exhibition Clash used as a warmup for the main event. NASCAR shifted away from that in 2022 by relocating the Clash first to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for three seasons and then holding it the last two years at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The event was delayed three days because of a historic snowstorm.

Ryan Preece won the Clash and will try to become the seventh driver in NASCAR history to sweep the Clash and the Daytona 500. Hamlin last did it in 2016 when both events were held at Daytona.

HOW TO WATCH

Fox will televise the race live on free television. The network's broadcast booth includes Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick. Larry McReynolds provides analysis. Jamie Little, Regan Smith and Josh Sims cover pit road. Fox Deportes, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will also offer live broadcasts, and the race will be streamed on the Fox One and the Fox Sports app.

NASCAR has practice scheduled Friday and Saturday, and the green flag is set to drop at 2:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday — weather permitting. Forecasts call for a chance of rain that could cause the race to be delayed.

WATCH PARTIES

With the NFL season over, the Daytona 500 should be telecast in most sports bars across the country. However, there are some watch parties scheduled in various locations.

At Charlotte Motor Speedway, the race will be shown in its Speedway Club with reservations required. The NASCAR Hall of Fame will have a viewing party in uptown Charlotte, with general admission at $10. A group of New York and New Jersey-based NASCAR fans has scheduled a watch party at SKYBAR in Long Island City, while in Florida, a viewing event will be held at The Hub in North Fort Myers.

Fans interested in finding a place to watch with others should reach out to their local NASCAR track or favorite sports bar.

FIND YOUR STATE: DAYTONA DRIVERS

Thirty-seven drivers in the 41-car field arrived at Daytona with guaranteed spots, leaving four up for grabs for the eight teams without charters. Charters are essentially a franchise license that guarantees entry to every race and other financial incentives.

Two of the open spots were claimed Wednesday night, with Justin Allgaier and Corey Heim getting into the race after posting the top qualifying speeds among those remaining cars. Allgaier drives for JR Motorsports, the team owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe were the top qualifiers and locked themselves into the front row for the Daytona 500. Busch earned his first Daytona 500 pole and will try to end his lengthy skid.

Joey Logano and Chase Elliott won 150-mile qualifying races Thursday night that set the starting grid. Casey Mears and Anthony Alfredo raced their way into the opener, however, Alfredo's car failed post-race inspection and was disqualified. B.J. McLeod was then awarded the final spot.

Alfredo, Corey LaJoie, Chandler Smith and JJ Yeley failed to qualify for the 500.

— — —

ALABAMA

Bubba Wallace, hometown is Mobile

— — —

ARIZONA

Alex Bowman, hometown is Tucson

Michael McDowell, hometown is Glendale

— — —

CALIFORNIA

AJ Allmendinger, hometown is Los Gatos

Cole Custer, hometown is Ladera Ranch

Jimmie Johnson, hometown is El Cajon

Kyle Larson, hometown is Elk Grove

Casey Mears, hometown is Bakersfield

Tyler Reddick, hometown is Corning

Zane Smith, hometown is Huntington Beach

— — —

CONNECTICUT

Joey Logano, hometown is Middletown

Ryan Preece, hometown is Berlin

— — —

FLORIDA

Ross Chastain, hometown is Alva

B.J. McLeod, hometown is Wauchula

— — —

GEORGIA

Chase Elliott, hometown is Dawsonville

Corey Heim, hometown is Marietta

— — —

ILLINOIS

Justin Allgaier, hometown is Springfield

— — —

INDIANA

Chase Briscoe, hometown is Mitchell

— — —

MICHIGAN

Carson Hocevar, hometown is Portage

Erik Jones, hometown is Byron

Brad Keselowski, hometown is Rochester

— — —

MISSISSIPPI

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., hometown is Olive Branch

— — —

OHIO

Ryan Blaney, hometown is Hartford

— — —

OKLAHOMA

Christopher Bell, hometown is Norman

— — —

NEVADA

Kyle Busch, hometown is Las Vegas

Noah Gragson, hometown is Las Vegas

Riley Herbst, hometown is Las Vegas

— — —

NORTH CAROLINA

William Byron, hometown is Charlotte

Austin Cindric, hometown is Mooresville

Austin Dillon, hometown is Welcome

Ty Dillon, hometown is Welcome

Ty Gibbs, hometown is Charlotte

Todd Gilliland, hometown is Statesville

John Hunter Nemechek, hometown is Mooresville

Cody Shane Ware, hometown is Greensboro

Connor Zilisch, hometown is Charlotte

— — —

TENNESSEE

Josh Berry, hometown is Hendersonville

— — —

TEXAS

Chris Buescher, hometown is Prosper

— — —

VIRGINIA

Denny Hamlin, hometown is Chesterfield

— — —

MEXICO

Daniel Suarez, hometown is Monterrey

— — —

NEW ZEALAND

Shane van Gisbergen, hometown is Auckland

ADDITIONAL CONTEXT

The Daytona 500 was first televised live flag-to-flag in 1979 and became a phenomenon in part because of a last-lap crash and ensuing fight as brothers Bobby and Donnie Allison duked it out with Cale Yarborough. Because of a snowstorm on the East Coast that day, the race drew an estimated 15 million viewers. It was the highest-rated Daytona 500 until 2002.

The Daytona 500 has been the opening race of NASCAR’s grueling schedule since 1982.

Richard Petty’s seven wins are the most among all drivers in the Daytona 500. There are two other seven-time series champions, Jimmie Johnson and the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. Johnson won the race in 2006 and 2013, while Earnhardt Sr. won it in 1998. He died in a last-lap crash three years later.

Among active drivers, Byron, Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson are the only winners of multiple Daytona 500s. Hamlin has won three times, in 2016, 2019 and 2020.

VIEW ADDITIONAL AP COVERAGE

Reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson signs a 5-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports ' AP News

NASCAR fans rally behind Denny Hamlin amid personal and professional trials ' AP News

Brad Keselowski’s broken right leg: NASCAR driver’s worst pain ever ' AP News

How NASCAR’s founding family transformed Daytona Beach into a motorsports mecca ' AP News

NASCAR emerges from federal antitrust lawsuit bruised but ready for its 78th season ' AP News

Reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson adds team owner to his racing resume ' AP News

NASCAR champion Tony Stewart to drive Ram Truck at Daytona race ' AP News

Teen driver Connor Zilisch set to take NASCAR Cup Series by storm ' AP News

Localize It is a resource produced regularly by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to the Local News Success team at localizeit@ap.org. View guides published in the last 30 days here.

Kyle Busch speaks with Justin Leusner about basketball trivia for his Basketball Today YouTube channel during a NASCAR Daytona 500 media day, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Daytona, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Brad Keselowski speaks during a NASCAR Daytona 500 media day, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Daytona, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

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

Bubba Wallace speaks during a NASCAR Daytona 500 media day, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Daytona, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

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

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Casey Mears spun on pit road, got briefly stuck in the infield grass and missed a last-lap crash by mere inches. After all that, he finished eighth a qualifying race Thursday night for the Daytona 500, good enough to get him into “The Great American Race.”

Mears choked back tears three separate times after squeezing into the 41-car field as the highest-finishing “open” car in the first of two 150-mile qualifying races.

“I was worried when we got stuck. I was worried about going two laps down,” Mears said. “Actually got on the radio and asked all the guys to stay calm, said, ‘We still got a shot here.’ For sure when we were sitting in the grass, that wasn’t pretty.

“I can’t believe it. After all that, being sitting in position to go race the Daytona 500 on Sunday, pretty much the whole race I was thinking that was out of our grasp.”

Anthony Alfredo initially earned the final spot in the starting lineup in the second qualifier, but NASCAR disqualified his car and the berth was set to go to B.J. McLeod pending post-race inspection.

Joey Logano of Team Penske won the first race and Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports took the second. Both were already assured of spots in NASCAR’s season opener and will start on the second row Sunday.

Mears is driving for Garage 66, a team owned by former driver Carl Long with just 10 employees on hand in Daytona. The 47-year-old driver is in pursuit of 500 career Cup Series starts and received financial assistance from former NASCAR team owner Bob Germain to enter Daytona.

Mears, who last competed full-time in 2016, will make his 495th start Sunday. With his fate uncertain, his wife and 14-year-old son booked two separate plane tickets from their home in Phoenix. His daughter has a cheerleading competition in Las Vegas, and they were either headed to see her or to Florida to watch Mears in the Daytona 500.

“Couldn’t be happier they’re taking that flight to Orlando. Gosh, dang, man, got choked up. It means a lot,” he said. “It just means a lot. Especially now, you know what I mean? My kids were younger when I was racing. Even before I started doing this this last year, I’d asked my son about, ‘Do you remember this or that?’ He didn’t remember. He was young.

“To come back and do it now, my kids, the ages they’re at, they understand what dad did for a living is cool.”

Like Mears, Alfredo was also in tears after making the Daytona 500 for what he thought was the third time in his career. He missed the race last year.

“My career is a lot of ups and downs and you never know when you will get another shot to race on any Sunday, especially the Daytona 500, the Great American Race,” Alfredo said. “Missing it last year has haunted me until this very moment. This is the only thing that could pull that black cloud over.”

His joy was short-lived as NASCAR announced the Beard Motorsports entry was disqualified because the transaxle cooling hose wasn't properly attached in post-race inspection.

“It's unfortunate to be here. Any small, open team we don’t like to have these problems,” Cup Series director Brad Moran said. “But we do have to do our job, make sure there’s parity amongst the field and also parity amongst people trying to make the 500.”

NASCAR was inspecting McLeod's car.

Logano won the first Daytona 500 qualifying race when a crash in overtime cost Corey LaJoie the spot that went to Mears.

Logano in a Ford for Team Penske had control of the race when a caution for a five-car accident with four laps remaining brought out the yellow. Logano had the lead on the restart for the two-lap sprint to the finish and wasn’t challenged before the final crash ended LaJoie’s hopes and gave Logano his fourth victory in a Daytona qualifying race.

Logano is a three-time Cup champion who won the Daytona 500 in 2015.

“I do think we have a strong race car, obviously a fast race car, we proved that,” Logano said. “There’s definitely some things I want to work on, no doubt. It’s always like that. We have to have speed. We’ll work on some handling pieces, but I feel like we’re pretty close.”

Elliott, the 2020 NASCAR champion, has won a qualifying race three times now.

“A great way to get the blood pumping for sure on a Thursday night,” Elliott said. "Nice to get the NAPA Chevy a win. Not a 500. I’ve been here before and not the other one, so you have to kind of learn to take it a day at a time.

“A great way to start the speed week for our team. Proud of our effort, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, the boss, from top to bottom. Good night. Looking forward to Sunday.”

The four drivers who failed to qualify for the 41-car field were Alfredo, LaJoie, Chandler Smith and JJ Yeley. Two spots were earned in Wednesday night's time trials and went to Justin Allgaier and Corey Heim.

Kyle Busch won the pole in time trials as he attempts to win his first Daytona 500 in 21 starts.

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

Joey Logano and crew celebrate a win in Victory Lane during the first of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Chase Elliott celebrates winning the second of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Cars move on the track during the first of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/David Graham)

Casey Mears speaks during a NASCAR Daytona 500 media day, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Daytona, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Joey Logano, (22) wins during the first of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Joey Logano and crew celebrate a win in Victory Lane during the first of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Cars runs during the first of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Joey Logano watches the leader board during NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Daytona, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)