RELATED: 2016 Driver Tracker | Daytona Speedweeks schedule
Two-time Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip announced Thursday that he will compete in this year’s season-opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event as driver of the BK Racing No. 83 Toyota.
Waltrip, 52, made the announcement during the FS1 program “Race Hub.”
“It’s a great opportunity for us to expand our team and go racing,” Waltrip said, adding that Maxwell House will provide sponsorship.
BK Racing will field three teams at Daytona, with Waltrip joining current BKR drivers Matt DiBenedetto and David Ragan. DiBenedetto competed for the team in the No. 83 last season while Ragan, who joined BKR during the offseason, will be in the team’s No. 23 Toyota.
With Waltrip in the No. 83, the organization will field a third entry for DiBenedetto at Daytona International Speedway.
It is believed to be a one-race deal for Waltrip, who made three starts last season and has made no more than four starts annually since 2010.
Waltrip scored his first NASCAR premier series victory in 2001 when he won the Daytona 500, a race that was marred by the death of seven-time series champion Dale Earnhardt.
Waltrip came back to win the 500 again in 2003. He also won the summer race at Daytona in 2002 and the fall event at Talladega Superspeedway in 2003.
Waltrip was also a team owner – his Michael Waltrip Racing organization fielded full-time teams with the backing of Toyota, which entered the series in 2007. MWR drivers won seven times before the organization closed its doors at the end of the 2015 season.
Waltrip has 28 career starts in the “Great American Race.”
The 58th running of the Daytona 500 is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 21 (1 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).