ANTHONY ALFREDO
Jack Links 500 at Talladega Superspeedway
No. 62 Fortify Building Solutions Chevrolet Camaro
Event Overview
● Event: Jack Links 500 (Round 10 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 27
● Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
● Layout: 2.6 mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 188 laps/500 miles
● State Lengths: Stage 1: 60 laps / Stage 2: 60 laps / Final Stage: 68 laps
● TV/Radio: FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Notes of Interest
● The Season Continues. Beard Motorsports will make its 31st official start in NASCAR Cup Series competition this weekend in the Jack Links 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The family-owned team has been a consistent presence at the superspeedway races since making its debut in NASCAR Cup Series competition at the 2017 Daytona 500 at Talladega’s sister track, the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The 2025 NASCAR season marks the team’s ninth competing in the Cup Series. In its previous 30 Cup Series events over those nine seasons, the team has competed in 13 apiece at Daytona and Talladega. Beard Motorsports, based in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, attempted to qualify for the 2025 Daytona 500 but fell just short of making the starting field for the seventh time the No. 62 Chevrolet was collected in a last-lap accident during the second of the two Duel qualifying races used to determine the starting lineup for the Great American Race.
● Alfredo Returns. Anthony Alfredo, the 26-year-old from Ridgefield, Connecticut, returns to the cockpit of the No. 62 Chevrolet for his sixth event with the team. Best among his previous five was a year ago this month when, in just his second start for Beard, he posted the team’s best-ever finish on the mammoth, 2.66-mile Talladega oval. It was also Alfredo’s best Cup Series finish in 41 career starts. His debut with the team came in the 2024 Daytona 500, when the NASCAR NEXT alumnus got off to an impressive start as he laid down the fastest lap among the six “open” (non-chartered) teams in Wednesday-night’s single-car qualifying session, securing a spot on the Daytona 500 grid regardless of his finishing position during Thursday night’s twin Duel qualifying races. From his 39th starting position, Alfredo drove to a 27th-place finish in the Daytona 500. Alfredo returned to Talladega in the Beard Chevrolet last October to post a 24th-place finish.
●Talladega by the Numbers. Sunday’s race marks Alfredo’s fifth Cup Series start at Talladega. Prior to his two runs at the track in the Beard Chevrolet last year, Alfredo posted finishes there of 12th and 10th in the April and October 2021 races, respectively, driving for Front Row Motorsports. His previous 41 Cup Series starts include the full 2021 season driving for Front Row Motorsports. He’s made 128 career starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, including fulltime seasons in 2022, 2023 and 2024, with five top-fives and 22 top-10s and one pole position. Seven of his Xfinity Series starts have come at Talladega, best of which was his third-place finish in April 2024. Alfredo’s NASCAR career began with a 13-race Craftsman Truck Series campaign in 2019, which included a 15th-place finish in that year’s October race at Talladega.
● Beard at Talladega. Sunday’s race marks the 14th at Talladega for the Beard Chevrolet. Prior to Alfredo’s sixth-place finish at the track last spring, its best result came in the April 2019 race when veteran driver Brendan Gaughan wheeled it to an eighth-place finish, leading five laps along the way.
● The Start of a Beautiful Friendship. Beard Motorsports’ partnership with Fortify Building Solutions began last October at Talladega and Sunday’s Jack Links 500 will be the third straight race for the partnership. A part of the Cornerstone Building Brands family, Fortify Building Solutions offers North America’s most extensive selection of high-quality metal roofing, wall panels, and building solutions. The brand serves local builders, contractors and homeowners through more than 20 retail storefronts across the country, supporting professionals and homeowners with hometown service, backed by a nationwide manufacturing and distribution network. Fortify Building Solutions will use the Jack Link’s 500 NASCAR Cup Series race to highlight Hypersteel™ cold-formed buildings. This product line of simple metal buildings offers the quickest design and production turnaround in their building solutions lineup.
● Fueled by Family. The No. 62 Beard Motorsports entry is a labor of love for the Beard family and it has been since the car made its NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2017. The late Mark Beard Sr. had a long-standing love affair with racecars and the business of motorsports. That passion manifested itself into Beard Motorsports. Competing in the NASCAR Cup Series for the ninth season, Beard Motorsports is owned by Linda Beard and managed by daughter Amie Beard-Deja and son Mark Beard Jr. The No. 62 NASCAR Cup Series team is just one of the family-owned entities. Beard Oil Distributing is the foundation of the Beard family-owned business portfolio and is recognized as a women-owned certified organization through the Women Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).
● Powered for Greatness. As it has been since 2017, the No. 62 Beard Motorsports team has been powered by an ECR-built engine and the team has leveraged the power of those engines to post solid finishes. During its previous eight seasons of racing, Beard Motorsports has participated in 30 Cup Series events, scoring two top-five finishes and seven top-10s.
● Next Up. Beard Motorsports announced last week the addition of a pair of NASCAR Cup Series races on its2025 schedule that will feature 20-year-old NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Jesse Love behind the wheel of its No. 62 Chevrolet for the first time – the May 4 Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, and the iconic Brickyard 400 July 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The two races mark the team’s first appearances at Texas and Indianapolis since its Cup Series debut in 2017.
Anthony Alfredo, Driver of the No. 62 Fortify Building Solutions Chevrolet Camaro:
“You and the No. 62 team put up a valiant effort in Daytona during the qualifying race attempting to make the starting field for the Daytona 500 but ultimately came up short. How disappointing was it to miss out on the Great American Race?
“It was heartbreaking to not make the Daytona 500 this year, especially with Fortify Building Solutions and Hypersteel supporting us. It wasn’t from a lack of effort or a lack of speed. It was just what can happen when it comes to superspeedway racing and the strategy that it comes down to with that type of racing. Unfortunately, by circumstances out of our control, we had a huge disadvantage by being in the second qualifying race because we didn’t have much to work with when it came to our manufacturer teammates. Most of the Chevrolet teams got taken out by an accident and the rest of them were in the first qualifying race. Even with all of that, we positioned ourselves well by driving up inside the top-five. We went through the green-flag pit stop well, executed on that front, and at the end of the race it was a manufacturer battle and we were outnumbered. We honestly did everything right that was in our control, so I’m proud of that and I think as a team we can build off of that going into Talladega.”
Explain what the process is like racing at the superspeedway tracks.
“Superspeedway racing is high-speed chess. That’s why I love it, but that’s also why it’s difficult. It’s fun because of the strategy and knowing when to be aggressive and when to be patient. Obviously, it can be very difficult to control the outcome of your race because so much can happen that’s out of your control – more so at those races than any other. It’s not solely just about having raw speed. It’s also about having teammates, having help and a little bit of luck.”
You’ve raced at both Talladega and Daytona a number of times. While the tracks are similar in style, they can produce very different types of races. What is so different about the two tracks?
“Talladega is different from Daytona for a few reasons. I think the first and most obvious thing is the characteristics of the track. Talladega is wider. It’s a little bit longer and provides a little more room for three- and four-wide racing. What also comes with that is that it’s a little bit less of a handling track than what Daytona is. Daytona gets hot and slick where, at Talladega, handling is not as important. I think, with this NextGen car, you have to have good drive quality to be able to get over the bumps, to be able to push and be pushed aggressively. It’s a little bit less chaotic in the draft because there is a little more room. You can run three-wide around there pretty comfortably, whereas at Daytona it’s pretty tight. It’s not uncommon to even see four-wide at Talladega. I think that’s just the plain difference. As far as the strategy and the job behind the wheel, though, it kind of remains the same because superspeedway races ultimately come down to that manufacturer battle, teammates and, really, fuel mileage. That’s been everything the last few years.”
Even after all of that, where does Talladega rank among your favorite tracks?
“It is definitely one of my favorites. I have a really good track record there with top-five finishes in Xfinity and multiple Cup Series top-10 finishes. Last year, we finished sixth there with the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevy. There are a lot of positives to build on and I have a lot of confidence heading into Talladega. I feel like I know what I need to do behind the wheel to execute, or at least to position myself. From there, it’s a matter of seeing what happens. Sometimes all you can do is put yourself in position and hope that it works out. We’ve learned some things now the last few races at Talladega and Daytona as far as what we can do as a team at Beard Motorsports. And with the cars we’ve been bringing, I think we all expect to be competitive and have a shot.”
How much does your performance at Talladega last spring boost your confidence going into the weekend?
“It’s a big confidence boost because last year there were a lot of unknowns for the team, and me. I was a new driver to them. We had gone to Daytona, so that got the ball rolling but, going to a new track together, I was still learning the NextGen car on a superspeedway-style track and I think there was just a lot of learning going on, and it still went exceptionally well. So I think this time we have a higher expectation. We certainly had that going into Daytona, it just didn’t work out there. But going into Talladega, we still have the same goal and it’s to go there and put ourselves in position to win the race.”
No. 62 Beard Motorsports Team Roster
Primary Team Members
Driver: Anthony Alfredo
Hometown: Ridgefield, Connecticut
Crew Chief: Darren Shaw
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina
Car Chief: Travis Owens
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Spotter: Rick Carelli
Hometown: Arvada, Colorado
President: Linda Beard
Hometown: Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
Over-The-Wall Members
Front Tire Changer: Caison Dillon
Hometown: Welcome, North Carolina
Rear Tire Changer: Matthew Ketchie
Hometown: Mt. Ulla, North Carolina
Tire Carrier: Tanner Wells
Hometown: Goldsboro, North Carolina
Jack Man: Brandon Derby
Hometown: Pennsylvania
Fuel Man: Doug Warrick
Hometown: Hamilton, New Jersey
Road Crew Members
Mechanic: Jack Gagnon
Hometown: Quebec, Canada
Front End Mechanic: Mark Sanders
Hometown: Springfield, Ohio
Tire Technician: Mike Harrold
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina
Engine Tuner: Jason Watkins
Hometown: Ridgeway, Virginia
Interior Specialist: Nic Hill
Hometown: Fort Myers, Florida
Transporter Driver: Roger Lankford
Hometown: Lexington, North Carolina
