NASCAR’s Open Exemption Provisional Changes Everything For the first time in modern NASCAR history, one of the sport’s greatest legends no longer has to race his way in. Jimmie Johnson  is officially locked into the 2026 Daytona 500 , after NASCAR  approved an Open Exemption Provisional (OEP)  for a Legacy Motor Club  entry. It’s a decision that guarantees Johnson’s place on the grid for the sport’s biggest race— Daytona 500 —and quietly signals a new era in how NASCAR balanc

In 1996, American stock car racing crossed an ocean—and history was made. For the first and only time, the NASCAR Cup Series  held a points-paying exhibition weekend at Japan’s legendary Suzuka Circuit , marking one of the boldest international ventures in NASCAR history. It was more than a race.It was a cultural experiment. NASCAR’s Bold International Gamble By the mid-1990s, NASCAR was booming in the United States. Television ratings were climbing, stars were becoming hous