You have to go all the way back to February 2020 to find the most recent instance of a Carl Long-owned NASCAR Cup car in the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, but it certainly hasn't been for a lack of trying.
Timmy Hill, who ran full-time for the team that year in what remains the most recent full season in the Cup Series, successfully qualified his No. 66 Ford into the 62nd annual running of the "Great American Race".
That same week, teammate Chad Finchum was unable to do the same, beginning a streak of Daytona 500 misery that has yet to end for Garage 66, the team formerly known as MBM Motorsports.
The team entered the 2021 season again aiming for Hill to run full-time. But he failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, as did teammate Garrett Smithley, and the team ended up only running a partial schedule the rest of the season.
In 2022, there were again two MBM Motorsports cars on the entry list, and with six cars going for four spots, odds were in their favor that at least one of them would get in. It appeared that way, until the final lap of the first Duel race, when Kaz Grala bumped out J.J. Yeley. Yeley and Hill ended up being the only two DNQs, extending the team's DNQ streak to five consecutive entries.
For the first time since their 2017 Cup debut, MBM Motorsports missed the season entirely in 2023. They returned in 2024, but not in time for the Daytona 500.
They made their Daytona 500 return in 2025, with the goal of qualifying with Mike Wallace behind the wheel of the No. 66 Ford. But due to his lack of recent experience, namely on superspeedways and his overall lack of experience in the Next Gen car, NASCAR barred him from competing.
Chandler Smith was given the opportunity instead, but he couldn't capitalize. Just as he did in an extra Kaulig Racing car in 2023, he failed to qualify for the race, extending the team's DNQ streak to six entries in a row.
Garage 66 aiming to end long Daytona 500 qualifying drought
In 2026, it's series veteran Casey Mears who is set to try to break Garage 66's string of Daytona misery, and if the latter half of the 2025 season is any indication, nobody has a better chance of doing that than he does after all these years.
Mears entered 2025 having competed in just one Cup race since 2016, that being the 2019 Daytona 500. He returned with a five-race schedule, including the final three races on the calendar, for Garage 66, and that stint included two impressive showings on superspeedways. He finished in a respectable 29th at Daytona, and he backed it up with an 18th place effort at Talladega Superspeedway.
Even if the No. 66 Ford isn't fast enough to secure one of the two open spots on speed, Mears has shown that he is more than capable of running at the front in drafting races, and that may be what he needs to do in his Duel race to end the organization's six-year Daytona 500 drought.
Mears has three career top 10 finishes in the Daytona 500, the most recent of which being a sixth place effort in 2015, and his career-best result is second behind Jimmie Johnson in 2006.
Speaking of Johnson, despite the two-time winner being set to drive a non-chartered (open) car for the Legacy Motor Club team he co-owns, he has been granted the world-class provisional (officially the Open Exemption Provisional) and is locked into the race. His No. 84 Toyota is effectively being treated as a 37th chartered car when it comes to being guaranteed a starting spot.
So there are seven, not eight, cars expected to battle for the four open spots. This should slightly boost Garage 66's odds of making it into the field.
Confirmed entries, aside from the No. 66 Ford, include the No. 40 JR Motorsports Chevrolet for Justin Allgaier and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet for B.J. McLeod.
Additional expected entries include the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet for Austin Hill, the No. 44 NY Racing Chevrolet, the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet, and the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota for Corey Heim. Tricon Garage are not expected to compete in 2026, and both Trackhouse Racing and Rick Ware Racing are not expected to field extra entries like they did in 2025.
Sure, the No. 66 Ford will likely again be viewed as an underdog to get into the field of 41. But this is perhaps the team's best chance to end their lengthy Daytona 500 drought, and Mears is perhaps the best possible driver to be given the opportunity to capitalize on that chance.
Fox Sports 1 is set to provide live coverage of Daytona 500 qualifying (time TBD) from Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday, February 11, and it is also set to provide live coverage of the two America 250 Florida Duel races beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 12. Fox's live coverage of the "Great American Race" itself is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 15. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any of the action from the "World Center of Racing"!