Beard Motorsports have had a rough go of it when it comes to qualifying for NASCAR Cup Series superspeedway races in 2026.
They initially thought they had qualified for the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway with Anthony Alfredo behind the wheel of the No. 62 Chevrolet, but a technical violation was discovered following Alfredo's Duel race. As a result, the team was completely removed from the Daytona 500 starting lineup.
The team did not return until the April race at Talladega Superspeedway, but with five non-chartered (open) cars on the entry list and just four spots available in the 40-car field, one would ultimately fail to qualify. Because qualifying was canceled, that one ended up being the No. 62 car, thanks to its lack of owner points due to the Daytona 500 DNQ.
It marked just the second non-Daytona 500 DNQ for the Cup Series since November 2018.
Fortunately, things went the team's way at Daytona this past weekend, even with five open cars on the entry list once again. Mears was the second-fastest of the five drivers in the open cars and went on to finish the race in 37th. It was his 498th career Cup Series start as he continues to pursue No. 500.
Mears is planning to hit No. 500 later this season, but No. 499 will not come this weekend.
Beard Motorsports, Casey Mears out at Darlington
Just two of the five open cars from Daytona have returned to the entry list for this coming Sunday's "Chase" postseason opener at Darlington Raceway, and the No. 62 Chevrolet is not one of them. They include Chad Finchum's No. 66 Garage 66 (MBM Motorsports) Ford and Corey Heim's No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota.
Because there are only two, both are locked into the 367-lap race around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) egg-shaped oval in Darlington, South Carolina.
As for Mears, he is set to return for the late October race at Talladega and then the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway two weeks later in early November. Beard Motorsports do not have any plans to enter the No. 62 in any other races before the end of the year.
While No. 500 has been Mears' goal, and he is lined up to hit it (barring another Talladega DNQ) in this year's final race, he has not confirmed that he plans to step away from the series entirely once the 2026 season concludes.
His five starts in 2025 marked his first Cup Series action since the 2019 Daytona 500, which was, until a year ago, his only Cup Series race since 2016. He ran this year's Daytona 500 with Garage 66, ending Carl Long's team's 0-for-7 Daytona 500 qualifying dry spell that had dated back to 2020.
USA Network's live coverage of the Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, September 6. Don't miss any of the action from the upcoming 10-race NASCAR Cup Series postseason!
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