The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season is officially here, and after multiple qualifying events this week — including single-car qualifying rounds, as well as short duel races — the starting lineup for the 40-car field for the Daytona 500 is set.
Hardly surprising, Hendrick Motorsports continued dominating Daytona 500 qualifying, and the organization will have two of its four cars starting on the front row. Alex Bowman won the pole for the third time in his career, extending Hendrick’s streak of Daytona 500 pole winners to eight of the last nine season. Teammate Kyle Larson will join Bowman on the front row.
Most notably, some big names in motorsports qualified as open entries, meaning they didn’t have guaranteed starting spots. Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson — who is now a co-owner with Legacy Motor Club, formerly Petty GMS Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports before that — and running a few races for the team this season — made the field, along with motorsports star Travis Pastrana, who will make his Cup debut for 23XI Racing, Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s team.
So ahead of the 2022 Daytona 500, here’s a look at the starting lineup, including all the paint schemes for the first race of the season.
