DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A controversial new NASCAR rule designed for “world-class drivers" could give Helio Castroneves an automatic berth into the Daytona 500, and, should the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner use the provisional, it would make for the largest field in a decade.
It's a complicated rule that was written into the charter agreement that 13 teams signed last September and is similar to a “promoters provisional” in that it gives NASCAR the ability to designate one driver as a guaranteed 41st entry.
Three-time Daytona 500 Denny Hamlin winner said the rule “reeks of desperation” by NASCAR, calling it nothing but a gimmick to attract big stars to stock car racing. Others wondered why the provisional went to Castroneves, who at 49 will be making his NASCAR debut, instead of seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, a two-time Daytona 500 winner.
The rule is designed for drivers who don't currently race full time in NASCAR, so Johnson and 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. would have been eligible for consideration for the provisional.
But their teams never put in the request, which must be done 90 days before the event. Only Trackhouse Racing requested the provisional for Castroneves, who enters Wednesday's qualifying as the only driver eligible for the 41st spot.
“I think Jimmie Johnson is a world-class driver, but I guess other people don’t,” Alex Bowman said. "It’s an interesting rule for sure. There’s a lot of hype and importance to the sport to have people like (Castroneves) that come in and, if they miss the race, it kind of hurts the whole thing.
"So I get it, but I also wish some of our past champions were respected in the same way in some sense.”
Castroneves will use the provisional only if he fails in traditional qualifying to claim one of the four open spots in what was supposed to be a 40-car field. If he uses it, the 41 cars will be the most in the Daytona 500 since 2015, when 43 cars was still standard.
Trackhouse and Castroneves also won't receive any points or payouts if he's the 41st driver, and all drivers who finish behind him will be moved up one position in the standings.
The rule has divided the field, even though it probably will come into play only at Daytona International Speedway, where nine drivers are vying for the four open spots. NASCAR's charter system guarantees entry to 36 cars every race.
“Aside from the Daytona 500, we don’t get in a spot very often where drivers of that caliber are going home," Tyler Reddick said. "I don’t know where to fall on this. On one hand, I would hate for a guy like Lewis Hamilton to come over here and attempt to start the 500... (and) something keeps him from running the race. We also don’t just want to let them have a spot in the race — like, they have to earn it.”
Logically, if multiple drivers had requested the provisional, the most sense would have been for it to go to the highest qualifier.
Nope.
If NASCAR does receive multiple requests, NASCAR will decide who the designated “world-class driver” is ahead of the event. The criteria listed in the charter for the rule states "the “Open Exemption” position is intended for a driver who will significantly impact the promotion of the event and grow the prominence of the sport.
In a competition briefing held for media last month, a hypothetical scenario was posed about what NASCAR would do if seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton, four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen, six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon and Johnson, who is also a NASCAR Hall of Famer, all put in a request for the same race.
“I’d love to have that problem,” said John Probst, NASCAR senior vice president of racing development.
NASCAR could have that problem later this year when it goes to Mexico City, where several teams are exploring deals to enter Juan Pablo Montoya in the race, and who knows who could show up at a road course — Shane van Gisbergen was brought into the inaugural street race at Chicago, won it and by the end of the year had left his Australian V8 Supercars career behind for NASCAR.
At Indianapolis in 2023, former F1 drivers Jenson Button and Kamui Kobayashi were both in the field, while Button was part of the same field as Kimi Raikkonen to make it two F1 world champions in the 2023 race at Circuit of the Americas.
“I can argue both sides of the fence. You’d hate to have a Helio Castroneves, a Max Verstappen, a Lewis Hamilton or someone come in to run a race and then miss the show due to something silly,” Chase Elliott said. "So I can certainly see that aspect of it from a promoter. But I also think that with prestigious races, there should be some sort of integrity in making the show.
"I think that’s part of what makes the race prestigious. You know, it’s a hard event to make. I think you see that with the Indianapolis 500, or you see that at the Chili Bowl, right? It’s a hard race to make. It’s a big deal just to get into the show. I just don’t want to ever degrade or hurt the long-term integrity of the sport and take the prestige out of events that should be some of our biggest days of the year.”
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
FILE Martin Truex Jr. interacts with spectators while walking down a runway during driver introductions before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Aug. 24, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, file)
FILE - Jimmie Johnson walks out during driver introductions for the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 19, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, file)
FILE - Helio Castroneves is introduced before the IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix auto race in Detroit, June 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file)
FILE - Helio Castroneves, of Brazil, talks with other drivers during a practice session for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
DEIR-AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes killed at least 85 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Thursday, according to local health officials. Hours later, Hamas fired three rockets at Israel without causing casualties, in the first such attack since Israel broke their ceasefire.
Israel resumed heavy strikes across Gaza on Tuesday, shattering the truce that had facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages and brought relative calm since late January. Israeli bombardments in the past three days have killed at least 592 people, said Zaher al-Waheidi, the head of the records department at the Gaza Health Ministry.
The Israeli military said it was again enforcing a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City. Palestinians were not being ordered to leave northern Gaza but can no longer enter, the military said, and are only allowed to move south on foot using the coastal road. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had returned to what remains of their homes in the north during the ceasefire.
Early Friday, Israel’s Cabinet unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to fire the head of the country’s Shin Bet internal security service. The late-night decision to sack Ronen Bar deepens a power struggle focused largely over who bears responsibility for the Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.
It also could set the stage for a crisis over the country’s division of powers. Israel’s attorney general has ruled that the Cabinet has no legal basis to dismiss Bar.
Israeli ground forces, meanwhile, are pushing into Gaza near the northern town of Beit Lahiya and the southern border city of Rafah, the military said Thursday. The operations come a day after Israel moved to split Gaza in two by retaking part of the strategic Netzarim corridor that divides Gaza's north from south.
The military ordered Palestinians to evacuate an area in central Gaza near the city of Khan Younis, saying it would operate there in response to Thursday’s rocket fire from Hamas. The Palestinian militant group said it targeted Tel Aviv. One rocket was intercepted and two fell in open areas, according to the army.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels also launched two missiles at Israel, one early Thursday morning and another in the evening, the military said. Both were intercepted before reaching Israeli airspace, according to the army, and no injuries were reported. Air raid sirens rang out and exploding interceptor rockets were heard in Jerusalem. There have been three such attacks since the United States began a new campaign of airstrikes against the Houthis earlier this week.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said overnight Israeli strikes killed at least 85 people, mostly women and children. The ministry's records do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The Indonesian Hospital said it received 19 bodies after strikes in Beit Lahiya, near Gaza's northern border, which was heavily destroyed and largely depopulated earlier in the war.
“It was a bloody night for the people of Beit Lahiya,” said Fares Awad, head of the Health Ministry’s emergency service in northern Gaza, adding that rescuers were still searching the rubble. “The situation is catastrophic.”
Israel’s military said Thursday its airstrikes in Gaza had killed the head of Hamas’ internal security apparatus and two other militant commanders. Israel has said it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas. A United Nations-backed group of human rights experts accused Israel last week of “disproportionate violence against women and children” during the war in Gaza.
One of the strikes early Thursday hit the Abu Daqa family’s home in Abasan al-Kabira, a village outside Khan Younis near the border with Israel. It was in an area the Israeli military ordered evacuated earlier this week, encompassing most of eastern Gaza.
The strike killed at least 16 people, mostly women and children, according to the nearby European Hospital, which received the dead. Those killed included a father and his seven children, as well as the parents and brother of a month-old baby who survived along with her grandparents.
“Another tough night,” said Hani Awad, who was helping rescuers search for more survivors in the rubble. “The house collapsed over the people’s heads.”
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration reiterated its support for Israel, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, “The president made it very clear to Hamas that if they did not release all of the hostages there would be all hell to pay.”
Israel, which cut off the supply of food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians, has vowed to intensify its operations until Hamas releases the 59 hostages it holds — 24 of whom are believed alive — and gives up control of the territory.
Hamas says it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as called for in the ceasefire agreement mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
Hamas says it's willing to hand over power to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority or a committee of political independents but will not lay down its arms until Israel ends its decades-long occupation of lands the Palestinians want for a future state.
Netanyahu said Sunday he would seek Bar’s dismissal, saying he had lost faith in his security chief.
But critics say the move is a power grab by Netanyahu against an independent-minded civil servant.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated across the country in recent days in support of Bar, including a mass gathering outside Netanyahu’s office late Thursday in the pouring rain.
A Shin Bet report into the Oct. 7 attack acknowledged failures by the security agency. But it also said that policies by Netanyahu’s government created the conditions for the attack.
Netanyahu is also upset that the Shin Bet has launched an investigation into connections between some of his close aides and the Gulf state of Qatar. His office said Bar's dismissal would take effect on April 10 or before then if a replacement is found.
Bar did not attend the meeting but sent a letter to the Cabinet ahead of time protesting the firing.
He said the dismissal was meant to hinder the agency from further investigating the failures of Oct. 7 and undermining the investigation into whether Qatar influenced the prime minister’s office.
“This is a direct danger to the security of the state of Israel,” Bar wrote.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. Most of the hostages have been freed in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight living hostages and recovered the bodies of dozens more.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 49,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It does not say how many were militants, but says more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war at its height displaced around 90% of Gaza's population and has caused vast destruction across the territory.
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Demonstrators block a road during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, in Jerusalem on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israelis attend a rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, and calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israelis attend a rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, and calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israelis attend a rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, and calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Buildings destroyed during the Israeli attack are seen in the Gaza Strip during the sunset as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Buildings destroyed during the Israeli attack are seen in the Gaza Strip from southern Israel, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings, move away from the areas where the Israeli army is operating after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, on the outskirts of Beit Lahia, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings, move away from the areas where the Israeli army is operating after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, on the outskirts of Beit Lahia, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Ella Osama Abu Dagga, 25 days old, is held by her great-aunt Suad Abu Dagga, after she was pulled from the rubble earlier following an Israeli army airstrike that killed her parents and brother, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana )
The bodies of victims of an Israeli army airstrike are prepared for burial at Indonesia Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings, move away from the areas where the Israeli army is operating after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, on the outskirts of Beit Lahia, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
People walking surrounded by buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip are seen from southern Israel, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Neighbours watch as volunteers and rescue workers search for survivors among the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)
People walking surrounded by buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip are seen from southern Israel, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Volunteers and rescue workers use a bulldozer as to remove the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga)
Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings traveling from Beit Hanoun to Jabaliya, a day after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings traveling from Beit Hanoun to Jabaliya, a day after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings traveling from Beit Hanoun to Jabaliya, a day after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
An Israeli tank maneuvers on the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
An Israeli tank takes position on the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings traveling from Beit Hanoun to Jabaliya, a day after Israel's renewed offensive in the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
