NASCAR fans have come to know Beard Motorsports as the team that shows up to the Daytona 500, along with most of the other Cup Series superspeedway races (but rarely anywhere else), and is somewhat surprisingly competitive on a regular basis, despite having an extremely limited number of resources – and just one full-time employee.
Their status as a small team has certainly not kept the organization from running up front at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, leading laps across five of their seasons of limited competition. They've taken full advantage of the "equalizer" nature of superspeedway racing, and the No. 62 Chevrolet has historically produced solid results.
As expected, the team confirmed that they are set to return for another shot at the Daytona 500 this February, and for the third year in a row, it's Anthony Alfredo who is set to be behind the wheel of the No. 62 car, making him the first driver since Brendan Gaughan to make at least three consecutive attempts for the team in the "Great American Race".
Beard Motorsports Daytona 500 news is bad news for other open teams
Alfredo finished in a career-high sixth place for the team in the April 2024 Talladega race following his Daytona 500 DNF, and he ultimately failed to qualify for the 2025 Daytona 500. However, in the team's nine-year history of Daytona 500 qualifying attempts, they have never missed the race in back-to-back years.
In fact, for the past six seasons, it's been a pattern of "every other year" for Beard Motorsports. Gaughan got in in each year from 2017 to 2020, but Noah Gragson didn't qualify in 2021. He returned in 2022 and got in. But then Austin Hill failed to qualify in 2023, bringing the team up to Alfredo's current run.
If history is any indicator, Beard Motorsports should have a pretty good chance to get into this year's race to keep that trend alive.
It's shaping up to be an eight-car battle among the non-chartered (open) entries for four open spots, with two of those spots set to be awarded based on qualifying speeds, and two others set to be awarded based on the results of the two America 250 Florida Duel races.
Other confirmed entries include Front Row Motorsports' No. 36 Ford for Chandler Smith, JR Motorsports' No. 40 Chevrolet for Justin Allgaier, Garage 66's No. 66 Ford for Casey Mears, and RFK Racing's No. 99 Ford for Corey LaJoie.
Expected additions include NY Racing Team's No. 44 Chevrolet for J.J. Yeley, 23XI Racing's No. 67 Toyota for Corey Heim, and Live Fast Motorsports' No. 78 Chevrolet for B.J. McLeod.
Legacy Motor Club's No. 84 Toyota for Jimmie Johnson is not included here since it is locked into the race with the Open Exemption Provisional. While it is an open car, it is being treated as a 37th chartered car as far as being guaranteed a starting spot, effectively meaning that the field is set to consist of 41 cars, rather than 40, with Johnson being ineligible for any of the four open spots.
Can Beard Motorsports make their first Daytona 500 since 2024?
JR Motorsports have made just one Daytona 500 attempt, that coming in 2025, and that remains their only Cup Series start.
But even if we pencil them in after they showed great speed a year ago, Garage 66 haven't qualified for the race since 2020, while NY Racing Team haven't done so since 2022. Live Fast Motorsports have also yet to do so since selling their charter after the 2023 season. And although Front Row Motorsports always tend to be solid on superspeedways, Chandler Smith is 0-for-2 in career Daytona 500 qualifying attempts with two other teams.
Even if we assume RFK Racing and 23XI Racing take care of business (which, as the latter found out in Chicago in July, is also far from being a guarantee) to get their extra cars into the field, things seem to be shaping up pretty well for Beard Motorsports to get the No. 62 Chevrolet back into the main event for the first time in two years.
Let's also not forget the fact that Alfredo got in on raw qualifying speed in 2024, and while he had to start 39th because of the fact that the No. 62 car was an open car, his qualifying speed was good for 20th out of all 42 cars; he didn't need to rely on his Duel result to make it in.
This is a team that brings fast race cars to the superspeedways, and they appear to be up for the challenge again in 2026.
Daytona 500 qualifying is set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 from Daytona International Speedway starting at 8:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday, February 11. The two Duel races are set to be shown live on Fox Sports beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 12. The Daytona 500 itself is set to air live on Fox beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 15. Start a free trial of FuboTV and catch all of the action from the "World Center of Racing"!