Talladega entry list features 39 Cup cars, 41 Xfinity, and an Earnhardt

After their only off-weekend for the rest of the year, NASCAR’s Cup Series teams will begin their 28-week trek to the championship with a visit to the intimidating Talladega Superspeedway.

The Cup field is one shy of being full with the usual 36 chartered teams, but three open entries as well. The three open entries are the No. 44 NY Racing Team with J.J. Yeley, the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet with Anthony Alfredo, and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports entry with driver/owner B.J. McLeod.

All three of these teams and drivers entered this year’s Daytona 500, but each one failed to make the race. No cars will be going home this time due to the number of entries, but the same cannot be said for the NASCAR Xfinity Series. 41 cars have entered the second-tier series with only 38 spots available on the grid. Notable entrants include Katherine Legge in the Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet and Jeffrey Earnhardt in the Sam Hunt Racing Toyota. 

Jeffrey is the grandson of the late Dale Earnhardt Sr., nephew of Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., and son of Kerry. He is aiming to make his first start of the 2025 season, but his 175th career start in the Xfinity Series. Like most Earnhardts, Jeffrey has a good history with Talladega. It is the site of his career-best finish, placing second there in 2022 while driving for Richard Childress Racing.

Legge will be hoping to avoid back-to-back DNQs after failing to qualify for last weekend’s race at Rockingham. She still ran the event with another team, but JAM will be hoping to get their own car into the show this weekend. Jesse Iwuji is also on the entry list, partnering with DGM Racing for what his first appearance as a driver in over two years.