2022 Daytona 500: Schedule, teams, drivers, how to watch
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
The 2022 Daytona 500 is almost here!
NASCAR's Cup Series kicks off this week with the sport's biggest event, live on FOX. Here's everything you need to know about the Daytona 500.
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When is the Daytona 500?
The race is Sunday, Feb. 20. The listed start time is 2:30 p.m. ET. The green flag is scheduled to drop at 3:06 p.m. ET.
How do I watch?
The race will be televised on FOX and FOX Deportes and streamed on the FOX Sports App. The Daytona 500 prerace show starts at 11 a.m. ET on FS1 and moves to FOX at 1 p.m. ET.
How many laps is the race?
The race is 200 laps, divided into stages of 65 laps, 65 laps and 70 laps. The Daytona International Speedway track is 2.5 miles, making the race 500 miles.
NASCAR rules allow the race to be extended in order to try to end under green. If the caution is out when there is one lap remaining, NASCAR will extend the distance of the race to try to get two consecutive green-flag laps to run to the finish.
But if the caution comes out after the leader takes the white flag (signaling the final lap), then the race will not be resumed, and the leader at the time of caution is the winner.
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How many cars are in the race?
There will be 40 cars in the Daytona 500.
How many are entered?
There likely will be 42 entries.
So how do they cut it to 40?
Thirty-six drivers have charters, NASCAR’s version of a franchise. They are all locked into the field.
There are four spots remaining for non-chartered cars, known as "open" cars. Those six drivers — Greg Biffle (NY Racing, not announced yet but expected to enter), Noah Gragson (Beard Motorsports), Kaz Grala (The Money Team Racing), Timmy Hill (Motorsports Business Management), Jacques Villeneuve (Team Hezeberg) and JJ Yeley (MBM) — will be split among the fields for the qualifying races ("the duels") on Thursday.
The top-finishing driver among them in each of the two races will get a spot in the field, and the two drivers remaining with the best qualifying times in single-car runs the previous day will also get into the race.
Who are the 36 locked-in drivers?
We’ll break it down by team with their car numbers:
Front Row Motorsports: 34-Michael McDowell, 38-Todd Gilliland
Hendrick Motorsports: 5-Kyle Larson, 9-Chase Elliott, 24-William Byron, 48-Alex Bowman
Joe Gibbs Racing: 11-Denny Hamlin, 18-Kyle Busch, 19-Martin Truex Jr., 20-Christopher Bell
Kaulig Racing: 16-Daniel Hemric, 31-Justin Haley
JTG Daugherty Racing: 47-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Live Fast Motorsports: 78-BJ McLeod
Petty GMS Motorsports: 42-Ty Dillon, 43-Erik Jones
Richard Childress Racing: 3-Austin Dillon, 8-Tyler Reddick
Rick Ware Racing: 15-David Ragan, 51-Cody Ware
Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing: 6-Brad Keselowski, 17-Chris Buescher
Spire Motorsports: 7-Corey LaJoie, 77-Landon Cassill
Stewart-Haas Racing: 4-Kevin Harvick, 10-Aric Almirola, 14-Chase Briscoe, 41-Cole Custer
Team Penske: 2-Austin Cindric, 12-Ryan Blaney, 22-Joey Logano
Trackhouse Racing: 1-Ross Chastain, 99-Daniel Suarez
23XI Racing: 23-Bubba Wallace, 45-Kurt Busch
Wood Brothers Racing: 21-Harrison Burton
Which teams are owned by famous people?
Michael Jordan co-owns 23XI Racing, Pitbull co-owns Trackhouse Racing, Floyd Mayweather co-owns The Money Team Racing, Joe Gibbs owns Joe Gibbs Racing, and Brad Daugherty co-owns JTG Daugherty Racing. The Fenway Sports Group (John Henry) co-owns RFK Racing.
How does NASCAR set the starting order?
The fastest driver from the second round of single-car qualifying runs Wednesday will be on the pole (all cars post times in the first round and the top 10 in the final round). The second-fastest will start on the front row.
The rest of the starting spots are determined by finishing order in the duels, with the finishing order of the first duel being the inside row for the start of the Daytona 500 and the finishing order of the second duel being the outside row.
Who is doing the prerace concert and national anthem?
Country star Luke Combs will perform prior to the event, and Trace Adkins will sing the national anthem.
Who is giving the command to start engines? Who will wave the green flag?
Charles Woodson, Pro Football Hall of Famer and FOX Sports analyst, will give the command to start engines. Lachlan Murdoch will wave the green flag as the honorary starter.
Whom is the trophy named after?
The Daytona 500 trophy is the Harley J. Earl trophy. Earl was a designer at General Motors and oversaw the design of the Corvette.
Are any tickets still available?
All seating is sold out. However, infield admission is still available (no seats but camping and/or infield fan zone tickets).
What is the schedule?
Cup
Practice: 5:05-5:55 p.m. ET and 6:35-7:25 p.m. ET Tuesday (FS1)
Single-car qualifying: 8:05 p.m. ET Wednesday (FS1)
Qualifying races ("the duels"): 7 p.m. ET Thursday (FS1)
Practice: 5:35-6:25 p.m. ET Friday (FS1)
Practice: 10:30-11:20 a.m. ET Saturday (FS2; FS1 joins 11 a.m.)
Race: 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday (FOX)
Xfinity
Practice: 4:35-5:25 p.m. ET Friday (FS1)
Qualifying: 11:35 a.m. ET Saturday (FS1)
Race: 5 p.m. ET Saturday (FS1)
Trucks
Practice: 5:05-5:55 p.m. ET Thursday (FS1)
Qualifying: 3 p.m. ET Friday (FS1)
Race: 7:30 p.m. ET Friday (FS1)
ARCA
Practice: 4:05-4:55 p.m. ET Thursday
Qualifying: 1:30 p.m. ET Friday
Race: 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday (FS1)
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
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