Veteran driver Casey Mears will make his return to the NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway March 30, where he will pilot the No. 66 HitchGo Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Garage 66, MBM Motorsports announced Thursday (March 13). The race will mark Mears’ first Cup start in six years.
“I’m happy to be back in a race car and look forward to returning to Martinsville, one of my favorite tracks,” Mears said in a team press release. “I appreciate Carl (Long) working with me to make it happen; he’s a well respected, great guy who’s worked hard to experience longevity in the sport.”
“Having Casey Mears drive a Garage 66 car is a proud day for our organization,” team owner Carl Long said. “He’s driven for NASCAR’s elite, such as Chip Ganassi Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Richard Childress Racing. Adding Garage 66 to that list means a lot to me and everyone who’s helped build our team.
In addition to his Martinsville start, Mears plans on attempting additional Cup races in the future, as he looks to reach 500 career starts in the series, a feat that only 47 drivers have achieved in the sports history.
Mears’ most recent Cup Series attempt came in 2019, where he finished 40th in the Daytona 500 in a Germain Racing entry. Mears raced full-time for Germain from 2011 to 2016.
He has one Cup win, the 2007 Coca-Cola 600.
Jake Altmayer joined the Frontstretch team in 2025, assisting as a news writer and contributing to other weekly columns and articles, such as Friday Faceoff and Xfinity Breakdown. A 2024 graduate of DePaul University, Altmayer has closely followed NASCAR's national series (Cup, Xfinity and Trucks) for nearly a decade and has attended more than a dozen races over the course of that time. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, spending time with his loved ones, and listening to his favorite band, the Beach Boys.