Casey Mears has had an interesting past year or so in the NASCAR Cup Series, after having run just one race since 2016 before the 2025 season began. He landed a part-time deal with Garage 66 (MBM Motorsports) that included five races in 2025, including the final three.
He remained with the team for the 2026 season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, and after an early incident in his Duel race, he managed to end the team's 0-for-7 Daytona 500 qualifying streak that had dated back to 2020. He finished that race in 32nd.
He had been planning on competing in the season's second race at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway), but the team withdrew the No. 66 Ford from the entry list, and he hasn't been back in the car since.
However, he landed a separate deal with Beard Motorsports, beginning with the late April race at Talladega Superspeedway. But qualifying was canceled due to rain, and because there were 41 cars on the entry list, the No. 62 Chevrolet did not get to compete.
Why? Because after Anthony Alfredo qualified the car for the Daytona 500, it was removed from the field entirely due to a technical infraction in its Duel race. As a result, the No. 62 team did not enter Talladega with any owner points, while the other four non-chartered (open) teams on the entry list did.
Casey Mears out at Iowa after another DNF
Mears has since driven in two races for Beard Motorsports, but both resulted in DNFs due to crashes. He crashed out at Pocono Raceway in mid-June, in what was the team's first official Cup Series start since Alfredo ran the Talladega race in October 2025, and he crashed out in the series' most recent race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Beard Motorsports do plan to run the No. 62 car on three more occasions between now and the end of the 2026 season, with Mears set to drive the car in each of those races. But this weekend's race at Iowa Speedway is not one of them.
In fact, there are no open cars on the entry list for Sunday's 350-lap Iowa Corn 350 around the four-turn, 0.894-mile (1.439-kilometer) Newton, Iowa oval.
Mears is set to return for the regular season finale at Daytona in late August, plus the playoff race at Talladega in late October and the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.
He does not have any additional races planned for Garage 66 this year, although Carl Long's team is still planning on running at least four more races for which the No. 66 car does not yet have a confirmed driver.
USA Network is set to provide live coverage of the Iowa Corn 350 from Iowa Speedway starting at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, August 9. Take advantage of FuboTV's free trial offer now and don't miss any of the action!
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