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Daytona 500: Kyle Larson, 7 other NASCAR drivers that will now start at the rear of the field

Stephen Samraby:Steve Samra•02/14/25•

SamraSource

NASCAR Daytona
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Daytona Duels on Thursday evening brought carnage for the NASCAR Cup Series, and now there’s a bevy of drivers who will be dropping to the rear due to having to go to a backup car for Sunday’s race.

According to FOX’s Bob Pockrass, wheelmen like Kyle Larson and Shane van Gisbergen will have to drop to the rear prior to green flag. Check out the full list of names below, prior to this weekend’s Daytona 500.

  • No. 5 Kyle Larson
  • No. 48 Alex Bowman
  • No. 99 Daniel Suarez
  • No. 88 Shane van Gisbergen
  • No. 7 Justin Haley
  • No. 6 Brad Keselowski
  • No. 35 Riley Herbst
  • No. 54 Ty Gibbs

That’s a surprising amount of drivers headed to the rear prior to The Great American Race on Sunday. Of course, Larson headlines the bunch, but some other strong contenders, such as Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman and Ty Gibbs, will be joining him in the back of the field.

A couple of the cars headed towards the back won’t have kind thoughts regarding Cup Series the full-time rookie in van Gisbergen. The man affectionately known as SVG tried to make a move during the second of the two Daytona Duel races, but instead it sparked a huge crash heading towards the finish line on Thursday.

It collected a number of drivers, including Larson and Riley Herbst, who will be joining the drivers headed to the back in their replacement vehicles. The New Zealander was doing well before the incident, but he’ll have to regain the trust of his peers throughout the race on Sunday afternoon now, as super-speedway racing isn’t exactly his specialty. 

As for the aforementioned Larson, he won six races last season, but fell short of making it to the Championship 4. He’s hoping to have another dominant season in 2025, but end it with his second title this time around. His first victory in the Daytona 500 would be a tremendous place to start. 

He’ll have his fans, as Kyle Larson has ascended to become one of NASCAR’s most popular wheelmen since joining Hendrick Motorsport. If he gets the job done, a majority of the crowd will be cheering, but he’ll have his work cut out from him, coming from the back on Sunday in Florida.