Two weekends of racing at Daytona International Speedway officially get started on Saturday with 26 drivers competing in the 75-lap Sprint Unlimited, featuring former pole winners, race winners and Chase for the Cup participants.
NASCAR Sprint Unlimited Daytona format: 75-lap race split in 2 segments
A competition caution after 25 laps will set up a 50-lap race to the finish.
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
The NASCAR Sprint Unlimited is a non-points event and will be split into two segments, with a competition caution scheduled for lap 25. From then on, it will be a 50-lap race to the finish with no points ramifications.
In the field of 25 drivers are 11 that qualified by winning a pole in 2015, one that previously won the Sprint Unlimited, four that previously won a Daytona 500 pole and four that were participating in the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Rounding out the field are Aric Almirola and Kyle Larson who filled the remaining positions based on Sprint Cup series championship driver points, and a handful of drivers who replaced drivers not ready to compete.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will take the place of David Gilliand, who didn’t have a sponsorship for the event and elected to skip it. Brian Vickers will drive the No. 14 for Tony Stewart due to an injury, and Casey Mears is in for Jeff Gordon after his retirement following the 2015 season.
The full field at the NASCAR Sprint Unlimited is as follows:
| No. | Driver | Qualified |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray | 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | 2015 Coors Light Pole Award |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Former Daytona 500 pole winner |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | 2015 Coors Light Pole Award |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne | 2015 Coors Light Pole Award |
| 10 | Danica Patrick | Former Daytona 500 pole winner |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | 2015 Coors Light Pole Award |
| 13 | Casey Mears | Replacement for Jeff Gordon |
| 14 | Brian Vickers | Replacement for Tony Stewart |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer | 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver |
| 16 | Greg Biffle | Former Daytona 500 pole winner |
| 17 | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | Replacement for David Gilliland |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | 2015 Coors Light Pole Award |
| 19 | Carl Edwards | 2015 Coors Light Pole Award |
| 20 | Matt Kenseth | 2015 Coors Light Pole Award |
| 22 | Joey Logano | 2015 Coors Light Pole Award |
| 27 | Paul Menard | 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver |
| 31 | Ryan Newman | 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver |
| 41 | Kurt Busch | 2015 Coors Light Pole Award |
| 42 | Kyle Larson | Qualified on 2015 driver points |
| 43 | Aric Almirola | Qualified on 2015 driver points |
| 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | 2015 Coors Light Pole Award |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 2015 Coors Light Pole Award |
| 78 | Martin Truex, Jr. | Former Daytona 500 pole winner |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | Former Sprint Unlimited race winner |
The race is scheduled to get started at 8:15 p.m. ET and will be televised on Fox.
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