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NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series • Season Opener
SAT, FEB 14, 2026
GREEN FLAG: 5:00 PM ET
TV: THE CW
RADIO: MRN / SiriusXM
DISTANCE: 300 MILES (120 Laps)
STAGES: 30 / 60 / 120

⏱️ Final Practice Intelligence

Friday's final session saw 42 entries take to the track. Jeb Burton led a session characterized by clean runs and individual car evaluations [1, 2].

PosCarDriverTop Speed
127Jeb Burton184.672 mph
226Dean Thompson184.226 mph
317Corey Day184.215 mph
48Sammy Smith184.072 mph
519Giovanni Ruggiero184.072 mph

Note: Jeremy Clements (No. 51) was pushed back to the garage before turning a lap [1]. No drivers completed a 10-consecutive lap run [2].

🏁 Key Drivers & Headlines

Austin Hill (No. 21): The perennial Daytona favorite. Hill enters today looking to extend his dominance on drafting tracks where he has been the driver to beat for three seasons [3].

Carson Hocevar (No. 42): Pulling double duty this weekend. After a frustrating Truck race involving tire failures and engine cut-offs, Hocevar is seeking redemption in the O'Reilly Series [3, 4].

Giovanni Ruggiero (No. 19): Fresh off an impressive P2 finish in Friday night's Truck race, Ruggiero has significant momentum heading into his Saturday debut [1, 4].

Notables: Caesar Bacarella, Natalie Decker, and David Starr are among the 42 entries fighting for 38 starting spots; 4 teams will miss the race [3].

⚙️ Technical Fact Sheet

Tires: Goodyear Racing Eagle
Codes: D-6102 (Left) / D-6104 (Right) [5].

Familiarity: Teams are using the same Left/Right tire setup at Daytona for the 5th consecutive year [6].

Recommended PSI:
LF: 26 | RF: 50
LR: 26 | RR: 48 [5].

Challenge: Inner liners are mandatory for this 2.5-mile track. Teams are restricted to only 4 total sets for the entire event [1, 6].

🏆 2026 "The Chase" Rules

Qualification for the 12-driver Chase is now strictly points-based; "Win and In" has been abolished [7, 8].

  • Wins = 55 Points: A 15-point increase from 2025 to reward aggressive strategy [9].
  • Sample Size: 9 postseason races to determine the champion [8].
  • No Eliminations: Reseeding occurs once after the regular season; the points leader after the finale wins the title [10, 11].