Livescore
Tricon Garage, which competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, will field a Daytona 500 entry for former Cup champion Martin Truex Jr.
It marks the first Cup event for the Toyota team.
Truex also will be reunited with former crew chief Cole Pearn for this effort. Bass Pro will sponsor the No. 56 car. Joe Gibbs Racing will provide technical support.
25 questions for the 2025 NASCAR Cup season
A look at some of the key elements to watch this season in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“It’s going to be a really cool deal to be able to work with Cole and have the number 56 again,” Truex said in a statement from the team. “I really appreciate everyone at Bass Pro Shops, TRICON and Toyota helping put this together to go have some fun, and I can’t think of a better time to go win the thing for Johnny Morris.”
Truex previously announced that last year would be his final full-time season racing in Cup. He plans to race select events during this season but has not announced anything beyond the Daytona 500.
Truex has 34 career Cup victories and won the 2017 series championship. He won 24 of those races and that championship with Pearn as his crew chief.
Truex has made 20 Daytona 500 starts. He’s never won that race. Truex lost the 2016 Daytona 500 to Denny Hamlin by 0.010 seconds.
Since the team does not have a charter, Truex will have to qualify for a spot in the Daytona 500 field.
Thursday’s announcement marks the sixth open team to state plans to enter the Daytona 500. The Daytona 500 entry list will be released closer to the Feb. 16 event.
Those open teams entering the Daytona 500 are:
JR Motorsports with Justin Allgaier
Beard Motorsports with Anthony Alfredo
Live Fast Motorsports with BJ McLeod
MBM Motorsports (driver to be announced after NASCAR did not approve Mike Wallace)
NY Racing with JJ Yeley
Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 with Helio Castroneves.
More open team entries are expected. There are expected to be four open spots for the Daytona 500. Castroneves is guaranteed at least a provisional as part of a new rule NASCAR announced this month that guarantees a starting spot for what the sanctioning body states are world-class drivers who enter a Cup race.
The Daytona 500 is scheduled for Feb. 16.
Read the full article here
Discussion about this post