Five open entries set to compete over final four spots on Talladega Cup grid

For the first time since the season-opening Daytona 500, NASCAR will have a full field for Talladega with one car being sent home after qualifying.

There are 41 entries, with five uncharted cars competing for the final four spots on the grid.

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Here’s a look at the part-time drivers and teams aiming to take part in this Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway:

Jesse Love — No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

Driver: Love, 21, is the reigning NASCAR O’Reilly Series champion is hoping to make his seventh career Cup Series start. He’s also a proven winner at Talladega in the O’Reilly Series (2024) and ARCA (2023).

Team: RCR has brought a third entry to three races this year with both Love and Austin Hill as the driver. It’s best showing of the 2026 season came at Phoenix, with Hill starting 27th and finishing 21st.

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Joey Gase — No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet

Driver: The 33-year-old Gase hs 93 previous Cup starts dating back to 2014, but should he make the field, this will be his first start of the 2026 season. His two best showings at the Cup level both came at Talladega, earning a career-best finish of 17th in 2020. His line top five in the O’Reilly Series also came at Talladega in 2015.

Team: NY Racing Team failed o qualify for the Daytona 500 with JJ Yeley, but also ran the most recent drafting race at Atlanta. Yeley was again driving, finishing 31st. Last year, they ran over a third of the season, including the spring Talladega race.

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Casey Mears — No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet

Driver: Mears is by far the most experienced driver among the open entries. The 48-year-old has 495 career starts with one Cup win (2007 Coke 600). His best finish at Talladega also came in 2007, placing sixth. If he makes the field, it will be his 30th Cup race at Talladega.

Team: The RCR-aligned outfit has run over 30 Cup races in the past decade, primarily focusing on superspeedways. They’ve placed as high as sixth at Talladega with Anthony Alfredo in 2024, and most recently attempted the Daytona 500 but failed to make the race. Mears has signed a deal with the team with the goal of reaching 500 career starts by the end of the year.

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Chad Finchum — No. 66 Garage 66 Ford

Driver: Finchum, 31, will be attempting to make his 14th career start and his second of the 2026 season, finishing 36th at Bristol. He’s never run a Cup race at Talladega, but he’s never finished higher than 33rd in any previous appearances.

Team: The Carl Long-owned team is the only open entry representing Ford, and last appeared in the Daytona 500 with Mears behind the wheel, finishing 32nd. Long has been a team owner in NASCAR for decades.

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Daniel Dye — No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet

Driver: Dye, 22, is hoping to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut after signing a four-race deal with the team. He was recently reinstated by NASCAR following a brief suspension for making insensitive comments on a livestream, and has since completed sensitivity training. He has experience at Talladega in the lower divisions, with a third-place finish in Trucks and a tenth-place finish in O’Reilly.

Team: The BJ McLeod-owned team has made two previous starts this year, with McLeod competing in the Daytona 500 and Atlanta. Once a full-time entry before selling its charter for around $40 million, the team now appears in a handful of races every year, and has finished inside the top 20 at Talladega in the past.

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Jack Link’s 500 full entry list — 2026 NASCAR Cup Talladega

Open entries italicized 

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