The Daytona 500 is the biggest day on the NASCAR calendar. Winning this race means a whole lot more than just points as its prestige is unmatched across the series. Every chartered team will, of course, get to take part in the event, but NASCAR does have its share of open teams that have to fight for a spot in the race. NY Racing is one such team.

As 2025 approaches, NY Racing has announced that they will be attempting to run the Daytona 500. Despite running only nine races in 2024, the team is determined to make it to the biggest-paying race of the season, in hopes of a shot at unlikely glory. #44 Crew chief, Jay Guy, opened up on the team’s ambitions for 2025 in a conversation with SiriusXM NASCAR.

Daytona 500 on target for Cohen and team

NY Racing has been a part-time entity in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2012. They have had 31 race starts with an average finish of 36.35. In 2024 Johnathan Cohen led the team that participated in nine races. This was the highest number of Cup Series appearances for the squad since its inaugural season in 2012.

Speaking on his plans for the team, Guy said, “We’re going to enjoy the holidays with our families and spend a little time, and then we’re going to get back at it and ready for Daytona.” The team did run Daytona in August last year with Joey Gase driving the #44 and finishing in 20th place, one of their better finishes in the season. In February, J. J. Yeley drove the #44 at Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 at DAYTONA and secured a 16th-place finish.

When it comes to the driver who will pilot an NY Racing entry in the Daytona 500, Guy didn’t identify any candidates. Those announcements will come in due course. Speaking on their close call in 2024, Guy said, “We were in the [Daytona 500] until the last eighth of a mile, and then our line checked up and Jimmie Johnson came pulling through the middle and we missed it.”

Further speaking about the 2025 season Jay Guy said that NY Racing will look to have two cars in Daytona this time. His comments also revealed that the team is looking to go all out. “We’re going to have two cars in the trailer down there in case we hurt one, so all of those things take time to get built so they’re ready to go if we need it. We’re looking forward to a bit of a break here, then we’ll be back at it hard”, Jay added.

Despite having their top performances this year, NY Racing is currently struggling with sponsors. Speaking about this, Jay Guy said that the team is getting ready for opportunities. “We’re certainly hard at work… A lot of our season is pending on sponsorship. We need sponsors to be able to play in this great sport of NASCAR, so we’re just getting ready for when those opportunities come.” Sponsorship is a necessity in NASCAR. In recent history itself, we have seen teams shut shop because of financial troubles, the biggest example being Stewart-Haas Racing in 2024.

Who will pilot the #44?

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JJ Yeley was behind the wheel for eight of the nine races last year and has been the driving force behind the squad, but Guy admitted that money is indeed needed. “The aspect of having drivers come in with money is great, but you don’t want to just put anybody behind the wheel. You know we certainly want good caliber drivers like JJ Yeley or somebody like him to drive, but the facts are you need money”, he said. Yeley has been racing part-time and a couple of full-time seasons too in the Cup series since 2004. He has amassed 386 races with just two top-5 finishes and nine top-10 finishes. However, he did manage a career-best Daytona 500 race in 2013 with a 10th-place finish.

However, their best finish in a points-paying race was from Joey Gase with his 20th place finish. Gase has been running part-time in the Cup series since 2014 and secured four top-20 finishes in 91 races. Gase has managed two top-20s in the Daytona 500, but neither of them were in the season-opening Daytona race. One of them came at the Can-Am Duel At Daytona 1 in February 2017 and the other was in 2024 August.

Despite the lack of success and financial struggles NY Racing is set to make a grand comeback at Daytona 500 in February 2025. However, their challenge will mostly depend on the sponsorship and package they built for the upcoming season. Who do you think will drive the #44 for NY Racing in Daytona?