Garage 66 are one of several teams that have competed part-time throughout the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, and like a couple of those other teams, they have done so after failing to qualify for the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
Excluding that DNQ, when Chandler Smith drove the No. 66 Ford, the team have 14 starts with six different drivers this year, and it's been Josh Bilicki who has led the way with six starts. Nobody else has made more than three.
Bilicki made his sixth start of the year at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval two weekends ago and finished 32nd, his second best finish of the year and best since he delivered the Carl Long-owned team their best finish since 2020 with a 21st place effort on the streets of Chicago in July.
But he will not drive the No. 66 Ford any more this season, as Casey Mears, who has made his first two starts since 2019 with the organization this year, is set to compete in the season's final three races.
Casey Mears to wrap up 2025 at Garage 66
Mears made his first start since the 2019 Daytona 500 in the race at Martinsville Speedway back in March and finished in 35th place. He made his second start of the year at Daytona in August, where he finished 29th, good for his best finish in the Cup Series since 2016.
Now he is set to return for the season's final three races at Talladega Superspeedway, Martinsville, and Phoenix Raceway. He has not competed at Talladega or Phoenix since 2016.
The No. 66 Ford is one of three part-time cars on the entry list for this Sunday afternoon's 188-lap race around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Lincoln, Alabama oval, with the others being the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet, and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet.
Austin Hill is set to drive the No. 33 car, Anthony Alfredo is set to drive the No. 62 car, and Katherine Legge is set to drive the No. 78 car.
Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled to host the YellaWood 500 this Sunday, October 19, with live coverage set to be provided by NBC beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. If you've yet to do so, take advantage of the opportunity to begin a free trial of FuboTV now!