Nine drivers have to race their way into the field for Sunday’s 67th running of the Daytona 500, including 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. and seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson.

One of those nine — four-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves — has a guaranteed spot should he fail to qualify naturally thanks to the new open exemption provisional. The provisional allows a 41st spot for a world class driver from another series to make the field should they fail to qualify naturally. That would be Castroneves, who is making his NASCAR debut. So, yes, there’s a chance one of Truex or Johnson or both doesn’t make the field for the Daytona 500.

Truex, speaking on “The Teardown” podcast with Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, called the provisional a “bit of a slap in the face” given the 20 plus years he’s put into the sport.

“It’s a bit of a slap in the face, no question,” Truex said. “I put 20 something years in this sport. It gave me a lot too but I’m just saying I’ve been here doing the grind and still wanting to do it. Yeah, I don’t know. Depends on what side you’re looking at it from. It’s good for the sport, I agree. If I was Jimmie Johnson, would I be pissed? Yep. Seven-time champion, we don’t care. You got to make the race but a new guy don’t have to. So, it’s a little weird to me but I don’t make the rules, I just come play.”

Martin Truex Jr. opines on NASCAR open exemption provisional

Truex, 44, is hoping to make his 21st start in the Great American Race. There are 36 chartered cars at the track this week; The 56 car for Tricon Garage is not one of them. That, of course, is the car Truex is driving. The sixth other open drivers are Anthony Alfredo, Justin Allgaier, Corey LaJoie, B.J. McLeod, Chandler Smith and JJ Yeley. If Castroneves makes it in during Wednesday’s qualifying or Thursday’s Duel, then it will remain a 40-car field, and five open drivers will miss the race.

Truex, who retired from full-time Cup competition after the 2024 season, said he would have liked to have known about the provisional before committing to the Daytona 500.

“Yeah, that would have been nice,” Truex said. “That would have been nice to know. [Trackhouse Racing owner] Justin Marks obviously did pretty quick. He read that early on and was like, ‘OK, gonna go find somebody to drive my car.’ He’s pretty sharp on that one, pulled a fast one. But I don’t know, it’s kind of weird to me. Just add another car, like make it 41. You get three or four of those guys, put them all in. Make the field bigger, there’s only gonna be eight or 10 cars left at the end of this thing anyway. So, we got a better shot at having more if there’s a couple more cars at the start.”