On Monday afternoon, NASCAR revealed the preliminary entry list for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, which will mark the 10th race of the 36-race 2026 season.
Contained on the entry list are 41 cars. With a maximum of 40 cars permitted to start races in the NASCAR Cup Series, one driver and team will pack up and head home after this week’s qualifying session at the 2.66-mile superspeedway in Alabama.
Tyler Reddick, who captured his fifth win of the season last weekend at Kansas, making him the first driver since Dale Earnhardt in 1987 to win five of the opening nine races of a NASCAR Cup Series season, is back this weekend behind the wheel of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE.
Reddick, the series points leader, will have a new primary sponsor this weekend, as this marks the first race of a multi-race primary sponsorship deal with Rockstar Energy Drink.
There are a total of five “Open” entries on the list this weekend, and the open cars are headlined by Jesse Love, the defending NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion, who will pilot the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with sponsorship from 1-800-PACK-RAT.
Joey Gase, a veteran NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series racer, will make his first Cup Series start of the season behind the wheel of the No. 44 Chevrolet for the NY Racing Team.
Casey Mears, who continues to inch closer to his milestone 500th career NASCAR Cup Series start, will compete in the No. 62 Chevrolet for Beard Motorsports.
Chad Finchum will pilot the No. 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Garage 66, and Daniel Dye, who recently came off a NASCAR-mandated suspension, will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut as he slides behind the wheel of the No. 78 Chevrolet for Live Fast Motorsports.
Jack Link’s 500 Entry List
| Entry | Car | Driver | Team | Crew Chief |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet | Brandon McSwain |
| 2 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske Ford | Brian Wilson |
| 3 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet | Richard Boswell III |
| 4 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports Ford | Grant Hutchens |
| 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | Cliff Daniels |
| 6 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing Ford | Jeremy Bullins |
| 7 | 7 | Daniel Suarez | Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | Ryan Sparks |
| 8 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet | Jim Pohlman |
| 9 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | Alan Gustafson |
| 10 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing Chevrolet | Andrew Dickeson |
| 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | Chris Gayle |
| 12 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske Ford | Jonathan Hassler |
| 13 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing Chevrolet | Trent Owens |
| 14 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing Ford | Scott Graves |
| 15 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | James Small |
| 16 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | Adam Stevens |
| 17 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing Ford | Miles Stanley |
| 18 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske Ford | Paul Wolfe |
| 19 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing Toyota | Charles Denike |
| 20 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | Rudy Fugle |
| 21 | 33 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing 1-800-PACK-RAT Chevrolet | Andy Street |
| 22 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports Ford | Chris Lawson |
| 23 | 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing Toyota | Davin Restivo |
| 24 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports Ford | Ryan Bergenty |
| 25 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team Chevrolet | Aaron Kramer |
| 26 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyota | Travis Mack |
| 27 | 43 | Erik Jones | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Doritos / Dollar Tree Toyota | Justin Alexander |
| 28 | 44 | Joey Gase | NY Racing Team National Fire Prevention Association Chevrolet | Jay Guy |
| 29 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing Rockstar Energy Toyota | Billy Scott |
| 30 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet | Michael Kelley |
| 31 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports Ally Chevrolet | Blake Harris |
| 32 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet | Billy Plourde |
| 33 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | Tyler Allen |
| 34 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing Ford | Derrick Finley |
| 35 | 62 | Casey Mears | Beard Motorsports The Gracie Foundation Chevrolet | Darren Shaw |
| 36 | 66 | Chad Finchum | Garage 66 Carter's Royal Dispos-All Ford | Carl Long |
| 37 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | Travis Peterson |
| 38 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | Luke Lambert |
| 39 | 78 | Daniel Dye | Live Fast Motorsports Champion Container Chevrolet | David Ingram |
| 40 | 88 | Connor Zilisch | Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet | Randall Burnett |
| 41 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet | Stephen Doran |
