The entry list for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega has been confirmed. Who will be lining up for the final superspeedway race of the season, and who will be without his regular crew chief?
Talladega entry list confirmed by NASCAR
This Sunday’s race in Alabama is the final superspeedway event of the 2021 season.
As is tradition, Daytona has held two events, with the spring Talladega race taking place in April.
Sunday’s race will see a full 40 car grid at the superspeedway, with the final starting line up due to be determined by NASCAR’s qualifying formula.
In total, there will be 19 Chevrolet Camaros, 14 Ford Mustangs, and seven Toyota Camrys.
NASCAR 21: Ignition | Trailer
Entry list changes for Talladega
There are some minor driver changes to the entry list from last time out at Las Vegas.
These changes do not affect any of the regular full-time drivers who will all be in their usual machinery.
The first change is that three extra drivers are entering the race at Talladega.
David Starr (#66 Motorsports Business Management) and Landon Cassill (#96 Gaunt Brothers Racing) join the field as new entries.
Starr replaces JJ Yeley, who drops out.
Justin Allgaier – who subbed for Jimmie Johnson in the #48 in 2020 when the latter tested positive for covid-19 – will make his second start of the season.
Allgaier takes over the #77 Spire Motorsports machine from Justin Haley.
Haley, who famously won the shortened 2019 Coke 400 at Daytona, will turn out for Kaulig Racing in the #116 Chevrolet.
There is one other swap between drivers.
It comes at Rick Ware Racing.
In Vegas, Joey Gase was in the #15 and Garrett Smithley in the #53.
For Talladega, they have swapped cars.
Gase is still recovering from his vicious shunt at Vegas, but has been released from hospital and returned to Charlotte.
Drivers ineligible for points
Of the 40 cars entered for the race, eight are ineligible for drivers’ point as they are not full-timers or received a waiver for missing races.
They are:
- Garrett Smithley – #15
- Cody Ware – # 51
- Joey Gase – #53
- David Starr – #66
- Justin Allgaier – #77
- BJ McLeod – #78
- Landon Cassill – #96
- Justin Haley – #116
Big hitter missing regular crew chief
There is one change to the regular line-up of crew chiefs for Talladega.
It comes at Stewart Haas Racing and the #4 team of Kevin Harvick.
Regular crew chief Rodney Childers has been suspended by NASCAR for the event.
In post-race tech at Vegas, Harvick Ford Mustang was found to have two loose lug nuts.
A single loose or missing nut is a monetary fine, but two means the crew chief is suspended for the next event.
In Childers’ place, SHR competition director Greg Zipadelli will sit atop the box for Harvick as he looks to advance through to the Round of 8 of the Playoffs.
