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This year's NASCAR Daytona 500 could potentially see as many as five open cars participating. This development comes after reporter Bob Pockrass tweeted about it on January 20th.
His tweet read:
“Could be five open cars at Daytona with Gragson, THill, Villeneuve and then possibly NY Racing (driver tba as team being put together) and The Money Team with Kaz Grala as they work on assembling a car.”
There are currently three confirmed open cars in the 2022 Daytona 500: Noah Gragson, Timmy Hill, and Jacques Villeneuve. They will be racing for Beard Motorsports, Motorsports Business Management (MBM) and Team Hezeberg respectively.
Pockrass speculates NY Racing and The Money Team could possibly join the car roster. The former is yet to decide on a driver owing to the team still being assembled, while the latter will go in with Kaz Grala.
According to Adam Stern, a motorsports reporter for the Sports Business Journal, The Money Team may finalize a deal to participate in next month's race. If the team competes, this will be their first NASCAR Cup Series race, having acquired a sponsor and a car.
Meanwhile, NBC Sports reports that NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Gragson will compete in the race for Beard Motorsports in a #62 Chevrolet. MBM Motorsports, too, tweeted about Next Gen car testing and announced how excited they were to return for next month's Daytona 500 event.
On the other hand, Team Hezeberg, which was founded by Toine Hezemans and Ernst Berg, will have Loris Hezemans, a two-time NASCAR Whelen Euro Series champion, driving in the Cup. This will be the first Cup Series appearance for the team. A partial schedule has already been set for the organization, but former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve aims to expand it as a fully set Next Gen competitor.
Over 100,000 fans expected at 64th Daytona 500
More than 100,000 fans are expected to watch the annual season-opening race this year. Tickets went on sale June 9th, 2021, and were sold out on January 12th, 2022.
Tickets varied from $99 to $399 depending on the package offer. The race will kick off with the 7th generation NASCAR Cup Series car.
