Every year, the NASCAR Cup Series opens its season with its biggest event on the 36-race calendar: the Daytona 500. A 500-mile race around the iconic 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway track, it’s the most coveted checkered flag in the sport.

Reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano begins the chase for his fourth career title in the Daytona 500 at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, kicking off an unprecedented year for the sport. Stock car racing’s highest circuit is set for a novel in-season tournament and will compete internationally, while the sanctioning body introduces several competition changes.

There have been a lot of driver and team changes in NASCAR's Cup Series ahead of the 2025 season. Nearly a third of the 36 chartered teams are new in some capacity after the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing and the expansion of teams like 23XI Racing,