Casey Mears Explains Why Running the 2026 Daytona 500 Is Extremely Satisfying for Him

Casey Mears, who has spent 16 years in the NASCAR Cup Series and 494 starts, has landed another shot at the Daytona 500 with Garage 66. It will mark his 14th try at the 500. Last year, he made five starts with the outfit and brought home one top-20 finish, while his last Daytona 500 run came in 2019 with Germain Racing, where he finished 40th.

Mears has two top-10 finishes in the 500, from 2014 and 2015, and he believes he and the crew are ready to roll. Getting the car squared away took time, with focus on key pieces. The undertray, heights, and setup lines stayed in step, and the team kept suspension tweaks to a minimum.

There may still be a few unknowns. Once Mears hits the draft, the car could dance to a different tune, but there’s no way to rehearse that until the pack forms. He’s ready to see how the chips fall. For now, he is just grateful for getting another chance at Daytona 500. During a media chat, Mears said,

“It means a lot because going into this. I didn’t know if we were gonna be able to check that box or not, so knowing that after the Daytona 500 there are five more that we need to get is definitely satisfying in itself. Being a part of this race is amazing. It’s definitely a different range of emotions now than it probably would have been 10 years ago.”

“It’s a big race, but in the past I knew I would have been locked in, and we would be able to just focus on doing our job and securing as many points as we can to start the season off right and win this race, but now I can look at it through a little bit different lens. I feel this is the bonus round,” he continued.

He knows the toughest hurdle is behind him. Now the job is to show up on Sunday and hold his own, prove he can run with the front runners, keep the car straight, and build goodwill in the draft so he’s not left hanging when the laps wind down.

But interestingly, Mears made it to the main event after Corey Lajoie’s final-lap crash in NASCAR Daytona duels. In Duel 1, Mears found himself a lap down with four to go. But then a late caution from a pileup involving Chandler Smith on Lap 56 handed him the free pass before an overtime restart.

He then caught a break when LaJoie crashed on the final lap, allowing Mears to finish as the top open car and race his way into the 500. Mears managed to narrowly avoid the spinning cars, though he did sustain front-end damage after nosing into the car of Daniel Suárez.

The Garage 66 crew then burned the midnight oil to patch the car back together. He feels the group has brought it within striking distance. Mears praised the effort, noting they didn’t just fix damage, they tore the car down and built it back up. The hours, the grind, and the teamwork left him proud of the people turning the wrenches.

About the author

Neha Dwivedi

Neha Dwivedi is an experienced NASCAR Journalist at The SportsRush, having penned over 5500 articles on the sport to date. She was a seasoned writer long before she got into the world of NASCAR. Although she loves to see Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch win the races, she equally supports the emerging talents in the CARS Late Model and ARCA Menards Series.. For her work in NASCAR she has earned accolades from journalists like Susan Wade of The Athletic, as well as NASCAR drivers including Thad Moffit and Corey Lajoie. Her favorite moment from NASCAR was witnessing Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. win the championship trophies. Outside the racetrack world, Neha immerses herself in the literary world, exploring both fiction and non-fiction.

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