The fourth and final crown jewel in the NASCAR Cup season is this weekend, as the 2026 edition of The Chase gets underway at Darlington Raceway. This weekend, the historic track will host the 77th running of the Southern 500, which has been a part of the Cup schedule since 1950.
38 drivers are teams are entering this weekend's race, the lowest for any crown jewels this year but also comparable to previous years at Darlington. The season-opening Daytona 500 featured 45 entries, while 39 cars entered the Coca-Cola 600 and also the Brickyard 400.
The two open entries are Corey Heim in the No. 67 Toyota for 23XI Racing and Chad Finchum in the No. 66 Ford for Garage 66.
Chase Briscoe won the Southern 500 in both 2024 and 2025, and is attempting to become the first driver to win the event in three consecutive years since Jeff Gordon won four consecutively between 1995 and 1998.
Riley Herbst, who was replaced by Harrison Burton at Daytona as he suffered from the "lingering effects" of a crash at New Hampshire, is currently listed as the driver of the No. 35.
2026 NASCAR Cup Southern 500 at Darlington entry list
| No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
| 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet |
| 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford |
| 7 | Daniel Suarez | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford |
| 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet |
| 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford |
| 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford |
| 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota |
| 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 33 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing | Toyota |
| 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet |
| 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota |
| 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota |
| 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota |
| 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet |
| 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing | Ford |
| 66 | Chad Finchum | Garage 66 | Ford |
| 67 | Corey Heim | 23XI Racing | Toyota |
| 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 88 | Connor Zilisch | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet |
| 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet |
Open entries italicized
