Thanks to the fact that they were removed from the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 after a technical infraction was discovered following their Duel qualifying race, and the fact that qualifying was rained out for the late April race at Talladega Superspeedway, Beard Motorsports entered Pocono Raceway having not competed in a Cup Series race since October.
Their 17-race absence marked their longest stretch without a Cup Series start since 2020 and 2021. Their lone 2021 appearance came when they failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, so they went 41 races between Cup Series starts from October 2020 to February 2022.
Unfortunately for Beard Motorsports, they still haven't finished a race since Anthony Alfredo's 21st place finish at Talladega in October, as Casey Mears was knocked out of Sunday's race at the "Tricky Triangle" in a wreck.
Mears is set to return for four more starts behind the wheel of the No. 62 Chevrolet this year, but his schedule does not include this weekend's inaugural Cup Series race at Qualcomm Circuit, more commonly known as the Coronado Street Course.
Beard Motorsports out for San Diego race
There are three non-chartered (open) cars on the entry list for the first-ever race at the 19-turn, 3.4-mile (5.472-kilometer) temporary street circuit on Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, California, but none of them ran at Pocono.
The only other open car that competed at Pocono was the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet, which was driven by Daniel Dye to a 29th place finish.
This weekend's three open cars include the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota for Corey Heim, the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota for Jimmie Johnson, and the No. 91 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet for Kevin Magnussen. All three are locked into the 75-lap race.
As for Mears and Beard Motorsports, the four races remaining on their schedule for the 2026 season include the July race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the August race at Daytona, the October race at Talladega, and the November season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Tune in to Amazon Prime Video at 4:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, June 21 for the live broadcast of the Anduril 250 from Qualcomm Circuit and catch all of the action from the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series race on Naval Base Coronado!
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