NASCAR Through the Gears: Daytona 500 entries, Rolex time, and hey, Kyle Larson can drive!

This seems like a good time to point this out. Unless I missed it while perusing NASCAR’s list of 62 official partners, there’s no official antifreeze of NASCAR.

There’s an official beer, official motor oil, even an official grill (Pit Boss, by the way). But no antifreeze, which stinks because even NASCAR’s most fervent diehards, from Indiana down through the Southeast, where the latest arctic blast is roaring, are hoping they don’t run out of Suburban Propane (yep, that’s the one).

But, assuming the radiator holds up, crank ‘er up and let’s work through the gearbox and catch up on the recent news cycle.

First Gear: Daytona 500 entry list (kind of) firming up

When Martin Truex Jr.’s upcoming Daytona 500 effort was announced late last week, the number of teams planning a Daytona attempt was up to 45.

Unless it’s 44.

ROLEX PRIMER As Rolex 24 approaches, let’s learn a little something about Daytona’s sports-car race

All are looking to line up on Feb. 16 as one of the 40 entries.

Unless it’s 41.

The 36 Cup franchises — “chartered” teams — are all guaranteed starting spots throughout the season. Forty-four cars have been entered for the Daytona 500, and that number will grow to 45 if Carl Long’s team finds a driver (and sponsorship) to replace Mike Wallace, who was denied by NASCAR due to a 10-year layoff from high-speed ovals.

The entry of Helio Castroneves has added an asterisk to the eventual number of Daytona 500 entries. Under a new rule allowing an “outsider” with great racing chops to enter a Cup race, Helio is now automatically in, and if he fails to qualify for the 500 through qualifying, he’ll fill a 41st starting spot.

The unchartered drivers, outside of Helio and Truex, currently penciled in: Jimmie Johnson, BJ McLeod, Anthony Alfredo, JJ Yeley, Justin Allgaier and whomever is named to drive an additional Rick Ware Racing car (Corey LaJoie is the rumor).

Second Gear: Breaking news — Kyle Larson is a good race-car driver

Kyle Larson is considered by many to be the best all-around racer in North America. This past weekend, he further enhanced his street cred on a tiny dirt oval in Tulsa. He won the prestigious Chili Bowl Nationals for the third time in six years.

Larson led all 40 laps of the final.

His fellow former Cup champ Kyle Busch and (future champ?) Christopher Bell were among the NASCAR contingent taking part in the annual gathering of the nation’s top midget-car racers.

Third Gear: Remembering the senior Martin Truex

Sadly, the news of Martin Truex Jr.’s upcoming Daytona 500 effort was soon followed by the news of Martin Truex Sr.’s death at age 66.

The family’s statement:  “We are devastated by the loss of our father. Simply put, he was our hero and a great man. We appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers and ask for privacy at this time.”

Martin Sr. did some part-time racing in the New Jersey area while, along with brother Barney, building a large clamming business called Sea Watch.

Martin Sr. did his racing on the fringes of the NASCAR spotlight, starting 135 races in the old Busch North Series, now known as ARCA East, and he won once, at New Hampshire in 1994. He also made 15 starts in the old Busch Series, with a best showing of 12th at Nazareth, also in 1994.

Fourth Gear: Rolex 24 gets Daytona’s racing season started

Oh, by the way, it’s Rolex 24 week at Daytona.

NASCAR participation has ebbed and flowed over the 60-some years of Daytona’s sports-car endurance race, and lately it’s been ebbing. But one of the Corvette teams in the GTD class includes a 2025 Cup Series rookie of sorts (Shane van Gisbergen) and Xfinity Series rookie (Connor Zilisch). Both have sports-car experience.

Also, Austin Cindric, the 2022 Daytona 500 winner, was a late sub for an injured driver and will co-drive a Ford Mustang in GTD. It’ll be Cindric’s sixth Rolex start.

In IMSA’s GTD classes, the Mustangs actually look like Mustangs, while the Corvettes, Porsches, Ferraris, etc., actually look a lot like their showroom counterparts. Ironically, it might be the one week where something resembling true “stock” cars turn laps at Daytona International Speedway.

And yes, a week from now, we’ll be talking about the upcoming Clash and the officially unofficial start of another NASCAR Cup Series season.

Vroom, vroom.

— Email Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR: Daytona 500, Kyle Larson, Rolex 24 and some tough news on tap