Daytona 500: NASCAR format for The Great American Race explained

NASCAR officially kicks off its 2026 Cup Series campaign this weekend, and what better event to do it with than the Daytona 500.

The jewel in NASCAR's crown, The Great American Race is set to take place for the 68th time in its history on Sunday, but before that, there's plenty of action set to take place throughout the week.

That's right, such is the prestigious nature of the event, the Daytona 500 is unlike any other event on the schedule, with on-track action at Daytona International Speedway set to take place from Wednesday through Sunday across the three national NASCAR series.

With that said, it's not as simple as practice, qualifying and the race, so we've got everything you need to know about the entire week from a Cup Series perspective covered below!

READ MORE: NASCAR Qualifying Today: Daytona 500 2026 start times & schedule, how to watch live TV/stream

NASCAR Cup Series: Daytona 500 format explained

First and foremost, NASCAR has now dropped the official entry list for this week's event, with it has confirmed that there will be a total of 45 drivers competing at this week's Daytona 500.

36 of these entries are chartered cars and are therefore guaranteed entry into Sunday's main event, whilst Jimmie Johnson is also locked in as the 41st entrant due to using the Open Exemption Provisional (OEP). This leaves the remaining eight open entry cars to fight it out for four spots in Sunday's main event.

Usually, a Cup Series race is capped at 40 entrants. However, NASCAR introduced the OEP ahead of last year's race, and it can see the field increased by one.

Last season, the OEP was taken by Helio Castroneves and only came into effect when the IndyCar legend failed to qualify for Sunday's race in the Daytona duels (more on those later), meaning 41 cars also started last year's race.

Daytona 500 practice

Although practice takes place every weekend, it is very rare that NASCAR teams and their drivers get a dedicated practice session.

At Daytona this week, Cup Series stars will have three of them and be out on track fine-tuning their setups for qualifying and the duels on Wednesday (10am ET) and then for the race on Friday (5:35pm ET) and Saturday (3pm ET).

Daytona 500 qualifying

Once Wednesday morning's first practice session is done and dusted, Cup Series drivers will return to the track that evening for qualifying (8:15pm ET).

Single-car qualifying at the Daytona 500 has three purposes. Firstly, it determines the front row for Sunday's race, with the top two drivers from the session locked in to the top two spots on the grid. Secondly, it determines the starting lineups for the Daytona Duels (Duel 1 and Duel 2), which take place later in the week.

Last but certainly not least, after NASCAR tweaked the rules for 2026, the fastest two open entries in qualifying will also lock themselves in to Sunday's race, meaning only two will remain up for grabs following the session.

Qualifying will be held over two rounds. In round one, each of the 45 drivers will have one timed lap around the track, at the end of which the top 10 will then advance to the second round.

In the second round, those 10 drivers will then have another timed effort to try and secure the Daytona 500 pole, with the fastest two drivers locking themselves into Sunday's front row.

Daytona 500 Duels

Outside of determining the front row for Sunday, the purpose of qualifying is to determine the field and lineups for the Daytona Duels - Duel 1 and Duel 2 - set to take place on Thursday night (7pm ET and 8:45pm ET).

For example, the drivers that finish in an odd-numbered position in qualifying will race in Duel 1, and those who finish in an even-numbered position will race in Duel 2. This includes the pole winner and the driver set to start in second on Sunday, even though their grid positions are already locked.

This does come with a small caveat, however, as NASCAR ensures there is an even number of chartered cars and open entry cars in each duel, to the best of their ability.

In terms of distance, the Daytona duels are 60 laps in length and will see the drivers who make the black and white checkered flag compete 150 miles of Daytona International Speedway.

These races are crucial as they determine the starting lineup for Sunday's race, outside of the top two, of course, as well as the remaining open entry qualifiers. The finishing order in Duel 1 sets the inside rows on Sunday's starting lineup, whilst Duel 2 sees drivers compete for the outside rows.

Although the Duels are essentially a qualifying race, NASCAR does award points to the top 10 finishers, with winners of the duels receiving 10 points, the runner-up nine points, third place eight points, right down to one point for 10th.

Daytona 500 race

Once both qualifying and the Daytona Duels are complete, we will know the full starting lineup for Sunday's race (2:30pm ET).

The race will last for 200 laps, which sees the Cup Series drivers battle it out across 500 miles around Daytona International Speedway.

Throughout the race, there will be two stage breaks after 65 laps and 130 laps, respectively. The top 10 at the end of each stage will be awarded points in the same way as the duels, descending once again from 10 points for 1st, down to one point for 10th.

At the end of the 200 laps, full race points will be awarded. This year, with the return of The Chase, NASCAR race winners are awarded 55 points, right down to one point for 40th.

Daytona 500 start times, schedule and TV

Here is the full Cup Series schedule for the 2026 Daytona 500, including where you can watch on TV or listen in via radio.

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