Castroneves falls back on provisional for Daytona 500 debut

02/13/2025 11:51 PM

Helio Castroneves will be the 41st entry in the Daytona 500 as he falls back on the Open Exemption Provisional.

Castroneves was collected in a crash during the first Thursday night duel qualifying race at Daytona. The incident occurred on lap 14 when Chandler Smith cleared himself across the nose of Justin Haley in Turn 1. Castroneves was running in the high lane, two rows behind the start of the crash, and had nowhere to go.

The No. 91 team exited the race due to the incident. Castroneves finished 22nd of 23 drivers.

"It's an incredible package, but there was a lot of movement – air flowing around us – and in this situation, I don't know who ended up crashing and hitting me," Castroneves said. "So, it's very difficult to figure out and control where to go. Maybe if I move a little bit down. I didn't want to hit the guys on the bottom, so I needed to understand my surroundings. But up to that point, it was really good.

"I feel bad for, obviously, the Project 91 and Trackhouse team. They're going to have some work to do. I didn't want to take the provisional, but now, I will have to take the provisional to go to the race. But it's incredible. I was learning a lot as it goes. It's a shame that we have to finish here."

Initially, Castroneves tried to continue after the crash. However, he crashed on his own in Turn 3 under caution, further damaging his Chevrolet.

"I was such in a rush to bring the car in — we had the right rear toe link broken — and when I hit the bank, the car just kind of rolled it, and I lost control," Castroneves said. "My bad. I should learn to bring it slow into the pits."

Trackhouse Racing submitted Castroneves for the Open Exemption Provisional during the winter. It guarantees him a spot in the Daytona 500, or he could have qualified his way. Castroneves failed to do that on speed Wednesday night. It also didn't occur through his qualifying duel race.

NASCAR will expand the starting field to 41 cars with the addition of Castroneves. Sunday will be his Cup Series debut.

Castroneves is ready to race in a full pack on Sunday.

"Oh, absolutely," he said. "It will be interesting. For sure, it will be interesting. Finally, I had a lot of cars around … I was comfortable in the high lane; very, very comfortable. So, I have to try a little bit in the low lane to see how it is. But as of right now, I was enjoying it very much."