In incredibly unlikely fashion, Garage 66, the team formerly known as MBM Motorsports, qualified for the Daytona 500 for the first time since 2020 with Casey Mears behind the wheel of the No. 66 Ford, even after Mears fell a lap down early in his America 250 Florida Duel qualifying race.
The Carl Long-owned team had been 0-for-7 in Daytona 500 qualifying attempts since Timmy Hill made their most recent start in the "Great American Race" six years prior, and Mears did a respectable job to bring the car home 32nd on Sunday. The team hadn't actually finished the Daytona 500 since Mark Thompson placed 22nd in 2018.
That momentum appeared to be set to carry over into this weekend's race at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway), as the No. 66 Ford was once again included on the 39-car entry list. It would have been locked into the race, with only two other non-chartered (open) cars listed.
However, Garage 66 have since withdrawn Mears and the No. 66 car.
Garage 66, Casey Mears out at Atlanta
Garage 66 have largely operated on a week-by-week basis since returning to the Cup Series in 2024, after they missed the 2023 season entirely. So while their next scheduled start isn't until April's race at Bristol Motor Speedway, when Chad Finchum is set to drive the No. 66 car for the first of two times this year, that is subject to change.
Finchum did drive the car at Bowman Gray Stadium, but he failed to qualify for the preseason Cook Out Clash exhibition race.
As for Atlanta, the two remaining open cars on the entry list for Sunday's 260-lap race around the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) Hampton, Georgia oval are the No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet, which are set to be driven by J.J. Yeley and B.J. McLeod, respectively.
Yeley was unable to qualify for the Daytona 500, while McLeod, like Mears, was able to do so in unlikely fashion, although his race ended early due to an incident.
Six other open cars that either appeared in the Daytona 500 or attempted to qualify for the Daytona 500 will not be back for this weekend's Autotrader 400.
Tune in to Fox at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 22 for live coverage of the Autotrader 400. If you have yet to start a free trial of FuboTV, do so now and catch all of the action from Atlanta!