Veteran Driver’s Milestone 500th Career NASCAR Cup Series Start Comes With Beard Motorsports at Track Where His NASCAR Journey Started a Quarter Century Ago
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. (Nov. 4, 2026) – For Casey Mears, the road to 500 NASCAR Cup Series starts has taken a few unexpected turns. Its final stop, however, takes place at perhaps the most fitting track on the schedule.
When Mears takes the green flag in the No. 62 The Gracie Foundation Chevrolet for Beard Motorsports in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he will reach a career milestone that for a long time was never a part of his plans. His 500th start will also bring him back to the track where his NASCAR national-series journey began a quarter-century ago, when a one-off opportunity in what was then known as the NASCAR Busch Series (now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series) unexpectedly opened the door to a 15-year Cup Series run.
The 48-year old driver who competed fulltime in the Cup Series for 14 consecutive seasons from 2003 through 2016, logging 488 starts along the way, has spent much of 2026 rediscovering what he missed about racing, and appreciating just how special the opportunity to do it again has become.
“I just feel really appreciative of the opportunity,” Mears said in leadup to his fifth and final race of 2026 with Beard Motorsports, and his 12th Cup Series start since returning for his first cameo appearance in 2019. “I’d say it’s pretty rare that somebody gets to be out of the sport for that long and then comes back and participates. I’m excited to go do it one last time.”
When the green flag waves Sunday, Mears will become the 50th driver ever to record 500 or more Cup Series starts. The opportunity has come through a collaboration with the family-owned Beard Motorsports team, with support from longtime friend and benefactor Bob Germain helping make Mears’ goal of reaching 500 Cup starts a reality. Mears arrives at Homestead encouraged by the speed the team has shown this season and eager to make the most of its final race of the season.
In 2001, the California-born Mears moved to North Carolina with an eye toward trying NASCAR before potentially returning to IndyCar, where he had already established himself as a promising open-wheel driver. With the direction of Indy-style racing unsettled at the time, a chance to test the waters in stock cars seemed worth exploring.
His first NASCAR national-series start came at Homestead in the No. 66 car for Cicci-Welliver Racing. At the time, he had little reason to believe that single appearance would define the next chapter of his career.
“I honestly felt like I was going to try this NASCAR thing out, get a taste of it, and probably end up going back to IndyCar,” he said.
Instead, that initial outing helped set the stage for a fulltime Busch Series season in 2002 and a move to the Cup Series with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in 2003. Mears went on to drive for several prominent organizations, including Hendrick Motorsports and Germain Racing.
This weekend, Homestead brings the story around full circle. The track has changed considerably since that first visit. Mears remembers a much flatter surface, with competitors running low around the apron. Today’s progressive banking, first raced on in 2003, encourages drivers to carry speed high against the wall – a demanding challenge that will test the No. 62 team in a very different way than the high banks of Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, where the part-time team has made 30 of its 38 starts since first competing in the Cup Series in 2017.
Beard Motorsports has built its program around superspeedway racing, but Mears believes the team has shown enough speed this season to be encouraged heading into its first-ever race at Homestead, laying down solid laps early in Mears’ outings in the No. 62 Chevrolet at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in June, Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July, and two weekends ago at Talladega.
“Prior to every single one of those events, I felt like we had a car that was capable of truly having a good result, speed-wise,” he said.
Homestead will require a different approach. Finding the right balance, managing tire wear and carrying speed along the high line will be critical, particularly for a small independent team competing against much larger organizations.
Beard Motorsports crew chief Darren Shaw began working on this weekend’s Homestead car months ago, focusing on details that could make a measurable difference. Mears also expects to benefit from time in the Team Chevy simulator and, most importantly, the 50-minute practice session on the weekend schedule for Friday at Homestead. That track time will allow the team to evaluate its setup and make adjustments before the race, a departure from the typical superspeedway weekend schedule with just a single qualifying lap taking place before race day.
“The adjustments on these NextGen cars are so small, so minute, but they make a big difference,” Mears said. “Being able to come down into the pits and in the garage and make a couple changes and make changes during that long of a practice session is something that’s going to really benefit our program this weekend.”
Mears credits Shaw’s attention to detail in preparation and the team’s determination to maximize what it has accomplished during its part-time Cup Series schedule over the last decade. He also appreciates the family behind the operation, whose involvement is rooted in a passion for racing shared by team owner Linda Beard’s late husband, Mark Beard Sr., and their daughter Amie Beard-Deja.
“I feel like I’m by far in the best place I could be to be doing this,” Mears said. “I enjoy spending time with the family and being around them.”
Germain’s support has been equally important in bringing Mears’ milestone goal within reach. For Mears, the experience has been about more than adding another number to his résumé. He has enjoyed reconnecting with fans, and working alongside a crew chief and engineers to solve the familiar puzzle of making a racecar faster.
“You take for granted, when you’re doing it, even though you know it’s special, it’s your job,” he said. “I think this year’s kind of allowed me just to really reflect on how special the opportunity to get to race cars for a living is.”
The milestone also gives his family a chance to share in that appreciation. His children were very young when his fulltime Cup career ended in 2016, but they are now old enough to understand what their father accomplished and what returning to the sport means.
For Mears, a successful afternoon Sunday will be based on simply keeping the No. 62 Chevrolet intact and running competitive laps throughout.
“If we can stay on the lead lap, if I could finish somewhere inside the top-25, that would be an amazing day for us,” he said. “My goal is to just stay in the hunt all day, stay in the fight, not have issues.”
A solid finish would reward the work of the entire Beard Motorsports organization and give Mears a result to celebrate alongside the many family members and friends who will join him at Homestead for his milestone race. It would also provide a fitting close to a season that has reminded him why he fell in love with racing in the first place.
All the while, Mears is careful not to declare Sunday his final Cup Series start. The reality, he acknowledged, is that it could be. With opportunities to compete at this level no longer guaranteed, the milestone carries a measure of finality alongside the excitement.
A quarter-century after a single Busch Series opportunity helped launch his NASCAR career, Mears returns to the same track with 500 starts within reach, a solid, family-owned team behind him, and a crowd of familiar faces to cheer him on.
No. 62 Beard Motorsports Team
Primary Team Members
Driver: Casey Mears Hometown: Bakersfield, California
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: Shiloh Windsor Hometown: Ada, Oklahoma
Rear Tire Changer: Michael Russell Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Tire Carrier: Lamar Neal Hometown: Halifax, Virginia
Jack Man: De’Quan Hampton Hometown: Los Angeles
Fuel Man: Douglas Warrick Hometown: Hamilton, New Jersey
Road Crew Members
Mechanic: Jack Gagnon Hometown: Quebec, Canada
Mechanic: Mark Sanders Hometown: Springfield, Ohio
Engine Tuner: Brian Trevino Hometown: Statesville, North Carolina
Interior Specialist: Nic Hill Hometown: Fort Myers, Florida
Truck Driver: Roger Lankford Hometown: Mills Creek, North Carolina
