Casey Mears entered the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season having not competed in a Cup Series race since 2019, and there probably weren't many fans out there who ever would have expected that to change.
But the 47-year-old Bakersfield, California native returned for the first time since the 2019 season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway and competed in the March race at Martinsville Speedway for Garage 66, the team formerly known as MBM Motorsports, and he competed in the August race at Daytona as well.
The team then confirmed Mears as the driver of the No. 66 Ford for the final three races of this year's playoff schedule.
Casey Mears to wrap up 2025 NASCAR season
At Talladega Superspeedway, he finished in 18th place, his best finish since 2016 and the team's best finish since 2020, and at Martinsville, he was scored in 33rd after being knocked out late with an electrical issue.
By competing at Martinsville, he became the first driver to drive for Garage 66 in back-to-back races since Timmy Hill wrapped up the 2021 season by competing in the races at Martinsville and Phoenix Raceway.
By competing in this coming Sunday afternoon's race at Phoenix, Mears is set to become the first driver to run three straight races for the team since Hill competed in five in a row early in the 2021 season, back when the team were actually still planning on running the full schedule after doing so with Hill in 2020.
The No. 66 Ford is one of two part-time cars on the entry list for this Sunday's 312-lap race around the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) Avondale, Arizona oval, with the other being the No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet. J.J. Yeley is set to make his 10th start of the year in that car, which has now appeared on 15 entry lists this year.
Live coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race is set to be provided by NBC beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, November 2. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action from the 2025 season finale!