CASEY MEARS Jack Links 500 at Talladega Superspeedway
No. 62 Gracie Foundation Chevrolet Camaro
Event Overview
● Event: Jack Links 500 (Round 10 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 26
● Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
● Layout: 2.66 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
● Welcome to the Team, Casey Mears. A new face will be behind the wheel of the No. 62 Gracie Foundation Chevrolet for Beard Motorsports for Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. NASCAR Cup Series veteran Casey Mears takes to the track for his first of five races with the team this season. Mears and Beard Motorsports will also join forces for the July 26 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Aug. 29 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the Oct. 25 YellaWood 500 at Talladega, and the Nov. 8 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The latter event will be Mears’ milestone 500th career Cup Series start.
● The Beard Legacy Continues. Sunday’s 500-mile race around the behemoth 2.66-mile Talladega oval will be the 35th Cup Series start and 16th at Talladega for the family-owned Beard Motorsports team. Since its inception in 2017, all but six of the team’s previous 34 races have come at Talladega and its sister oval at Daytona. The 2026 NASCAR season marks the Mt. Pleasant, Michigan-based team’s 10th competing in the Cup Series. The first eight of the team’s 15 previous Talladega outings came at the hands of veteran driver Brendan Gaughan, best of those resulting in an eighth-place finish in the April 2019 race. Behind the wheel for the team’s last four Talladega outings was Anthony Alfredo, who posted a best finish of sixth in the April 2024 race.
● Another Racing Family Legacy. Mears, who turned 48 earlier this month, comes to the Beard team with racing family history of his own with roots in Bakersfield, California. His dad, Roger, was a fixture in off-road racing for decades, his numerous wins including marquis events like the Baja 1000 and Pikes Peak Hillclimb, and championships in SCORE/HDRA and Mickey Thompson Grand National Trucks competition. Mears’ uncle Rick, meanwhile, was a longtime NTT IndyCar Series competitor and six-time series champion, and is one of only three drivers ever to win the Indianapolis 500 four times. Like his dad, Casey Mears began in off-road racing before a five-year run through the INDY NXT and IndyCar series from 1995 to 2001. He transitioned to stock cars in 2001, and made his Cup Series debut in 2003. He was a fixture in NASCAR’s top touring series for 14 seasons, scoring a win in the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway before stepping away from fulltime racing following the 2016 season having made 488 career Cup Series starts. In recent years, Mears returned for select Cup Series starts, and Sunday’s race marks his eighth since returning to the series at the 2019 Daytona 500. Five of those outings since his return came last year for owner Carl Long, including his 18th-place run in the October race at Talladega and 32nd-place result at this year’s Daytona 500. At Daytona 500, Mears raced his way into main event as the top-finishing open car in his Duel qualifying race. Mears has 28 career Cup Series starts at Talladega with five top-10s – sixth in October 2007, seventh in April 2009, eighth in the April and October races in 2004, and 10th in October 2014. His three Talladega starts in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series feature a third-place finish in April 2007 and a fifth-place finish in April 2002. He also has one ARCA Menards Series start at the track, which resulted in a ninth-place finish in October 2001.
● The Passion Lives On. Owned and operated by the Beard family and operating out of Mooresville, North Carolina, Beard Motorsports continues in 2026 under the leadership and guidance of Linda Beard, her daughter Amie Beard-Deja, son Mark Beard Jr., and crew chief Darren Shaw. What started out as a passion project for the late Mark Beard Sr., has remained a tribute to the family’s patriarch since making its Cup Series debut in the 2017 Daytona 500 with Gaughan behind the wheel of its No. 62 Chevrolet. The family has remained committed to the vision laid out by its patriarch and has done so with notable success. Today, the No. 62 NASCAR Cup Series team is just one of its 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).
● Driving for a Cause. Supporting Mears 2026 run with Beard Motorsports is a collection of longtime partners featuring the Gracie Foundation. Inspired by the late Gail “Gracie” Germain, the foundation strives to lighten the weight of the emotional journey of battling cancer through the act of a simple gesture. Gracie Gifts, beautifully packaged care boxes filled with comforting, uplifting and pampering items, are sent to women currently undergoing treatment for any type of cancer. Gail Germain is the late wife of former Cup Series car owner Bob Germain, with whom Mears has a longstanding relationship.
● Dependable Power Under the Hood. Since making its debut in the 2017 Daytona 500, the No. 62 Beard Motorsports team has been powered by ECR-built engines, and the team has leveraged the power of those engines to post solid finishes, including Noah Gragson fifth-place finish in the July 2022 race at Daytona, and the team’s seven other top-10s in 34 Cup Series starts.
Casey Mears, Driver of the No. 62 Gracie Foundation Chevrolet
You’re in the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet for your first of five races with the team this weekend at Talladega. How did it all come together?
“It’s just a cool deal. We kind of tossed around the idea for about two or three years of trying to make this happen. The conversations sparked a little bit of interest and, thankfully, Bob Germain, who is my old car owner, he really stepped up and wanted to make it happen. So if it wasn’t for him, none of this would be going on right now. We had some conversations with various people over the last year, and I thought, ‘Man, the 62 team could be a really good, viable option for me.’ Obviously, they run part-time, but I knew that they have ties with RCR (Richard Childress Racing), and they’re positioned to go out and be competitive. Their track record at the superspeedways has always shown to have speed, which I thought immediately puts me in a better situation. We’ve had people like Acrisure Protection Group and KARR Security Systems step up that have been partnered with us this last year or so, but Bob’s the main source of funding to, to put this all together. And I’m very thankful for the chance to work with the Beard family. It all has kind of floored me, really.”
You’re the most tenured Cup Series driver to drive for Beard. What do you feel that brings to the team for its next five races?
“I’m excited about it. When Brendan Gaughan was running for the team, that was good for consistency. Since Brendan retired, it’s been utilized more as a kind of RCR (Richard Childress Racing) feeder program, where their young drivers have been running races and getting experience. It will be good to have the consistency of somebody like me in the car for five events. Every race that you run, obviously you learn more about each other. The spotter and the driver get more in sync, the crew chief and the driver get more in sync, the ownership knows what to expect each race. I think it’s exciting. They’re really good at the superspeedways, and there was a period earlier in my career where I had the best average finish at the superspeedways in Cup, so there’s that factor at Talladega and Daytona.”
With your resume, you’re certainly a known entity in the Cup garage. How would you say that bodes for the need to find drivers to partner with in the superspeedway races?
“You know, I didn’t know what to expect when I first started coming back to run some of these races after being away for eight years, but I still have some really good relationships in the garage with some of the current drivers. Obviously, there’s a lot of new guys, but I was surprised to see even some of the newer guys that I hadn’t really known very well being super respectful and open, as well. I felt like guys were willing to work with me, willing to go with me, and I think that will ultimately help throughout the race. And then, obviously, when you get to the end of these superspeedway races, it’s kind of every man for himself. But I don’t see being that guy that gets completely hung out all the time because they’re worried about me not having the experience to make the right decisions or moves. Even through I was gone for all those years, I feel like I’ve earned the respect of at least knowing what I’m doing out there, and I think that’s going to be a good thing, a positive thing for the team and the program. And hopefully that adds to the value of what I can provide out on the racetrack.”
Just how important it is to you to reach the milestone of 500 career Cup Series starts?
“You know, I ask myself that question, as well. It just kind of became a goal when I was a- made aware two or three years ago that I was only 11 races away from 500 starts, I thought, ‘Gosh, that’s just a shame to be that close and not accomplish that milestone.’ When I left the sport, I didn’t really do it on my terms – very few of us get to do that. It wasn’t because I lost the love for the sport or for racing, it was just the timing of things. The good opportunities weren’t there anymore. So I stepped away, but that didn’t mean I lost the love for it. And I think when I started understanding that I was that close to 500, it gave me a glorified excuse to really start trying to legitimately get back and do some racing, and that’s really what it is. Having 500 starts doesn’t put me in the Hall of Fame, it doesn’t change a lot of things within the sport, but personally it’s going to be pretty amazing to know that we accomplished that goal with the people that helped me do it and get there. There’s a lot of love there for that involvement.”
How difficult was it to get back into a Cup car when you came back from your eight-season hiatus last year?
“That was one thing I was curious about because, I think actually in the broadcast booth at Daytona, they mentioned that I was the oldest driver in the field. That kills me. What I was surprised about in my first race back at Martinsville, after worrying about how I was going to adapt, how I was going to feel after all that time away, I was three laps into practice before I was just mad that the car wasn’t working properly. So that didn’t take long. I was surprised how easy it was. I felt very comfortable in the car, I felt comfortable on the track, everything came back really quickly, so I was pleased to feel that way.”
Talk about the Gracie Foundation and the work you’ve done with it over the years.
“We have the Gracie Foundation on the car because that’s something near and dear to Bob. It’s something that his wife started before she passed of cancer and I think he’s super excited to have the Gracie Foundation on the car as a primary. I’ve always been front and center on what those guys have been doing and really, at the end of the day, what they do is lift the spirits of women a little bit as they’re going through treatments in their battles with cancer. It’s cool to see and cool to be a part of, and I know it’s something Bob really wants to keep going and build.”
No. 62 Beard Motorsports Team Roster
Primary Team Members
Driver: Casey Mears
Hometown: Bakersfield, California
Crew Chief: Darren Shaw
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina
Car Chief: Drew Mickey
Hometown: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Spotter: Rick Carelli
Hometown: Arvada, Colorado
President: Linda Beard
Hometown: Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
Over-The-Wall Members
Front Tire Changer: Michael Russell
Hometown: North Carolina
Rear Tire Changer: Isaac Byers
Hometown: North Carolina
Tire Carrier: Kenneth Leach
Hometown: Fremont, North Carolina
Jack Man: Da’Quan Hampton
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Fuel Man: James Kelley
Hometown: Luray, Virginia
Road Crew Members
Mechanic: Jack Gagnon
Hometown: Quebec, Canada
Mechanic: Mark Sanders
Hometown: Springfield, Ohio
Tire Technician: Mike Harrold
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina
Engine Tuner: Brian Trevino
Hometown: Statesville, North Carolina
Interior Specialist: Nic Hill
Hometown: Fort Myers, Florida
Engineer: Mack Kanupp
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Transporter Driver: Roger Lankford
Hometown: Lexington, North Carolina
