Beard Motorsports will attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 in 2022, the team announced Sept. 7.
Beard is the first non-chartered NASCAR Cup Series team to announce it plans to run the race next year.
The news comes after Beard’s No. 62 failed to qualify for the 2021 Daytona 500 with Noah Gragson, shortly after the death of its founder, Mark Beard. Usually a mainstay at superspeedway events throughout the season, the team had not entered subsequent races at Talladega Superspeedway and Daytona International Speedway and doesn’t seem to plan to try for the second Talladega race later this year, either.
“My father was passionate about racing and he took a great deal of pride in coming to Daytona and competing against the biggest names in the sport,” team evp Amie Beard said in a team release. “He passed away just before this year’s Daytona 500 and his presence was definitely missed.
“We didn’t make the race, and with no qualifying available at the other superspeedway races, we didn’t have the opportunity to race again. We’ve got some unfinished business, and that’s why we’re coming back to Daytona.”
Here is @BeardOil62's 2022 Daytona 500 scheme on the Next Gen car. pic.twitter.com/jqAu4UR7Bv
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) September 7, 2021
Beard’s long-running alliance with Richard Childress Racing will continue for 2022, when the team plans to run all four superspeedway events, not just the Daytona 500.
Its 2022 driver will be announced at a later date.
The Chevrolet-powered team began competing at all superspeedway Cup events beginning with its first race in the 2017 Daytona 500. Since then, the team has earned four top 10s in its 17 starts, which includes a best finish of seventh in the 2020 Daytona 500 with Brendan Gaughan.
About the author
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loudcolumn, co-host of the Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
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