Casey Mears Looks To Keep NASCAR Cup Career Going In 2026

Casey Mears is on the verge of his 600th NASCAR start at Martinsville Speedway next weekend.

There may be a handful more on the horizon.

Mears continued his Cup Series comeback Sunday (Oct. 19) at Talladega Superspeedway with an 18th-place finish for Carl Long’s part-time operation. Driving the No. 66 Ford, he overcame early issues that left him a lap down at one point to produce the best run for the MBM Motorsports operation in five years.

It’s part of a five-race deal that’s taken Mears off the sidelines after a six-year NASCAR hiatus. And at 47 years of age, he feels there’s plenty still left in the tank.

“I’ve never lost the itch,” Mears said when it comes to his NASCAR career. “This sport’s fickle, and it was done with me before I was done with it, really.

“And so, I got a lot of time off, got to spend quality time with my family and watch them grow up, which has been a lot of fun.”

But now, the focus is back on racing, at least for a part-time schedule as Mears looks to set another record for himself: 500 career Cup Series starts.

Martinsville next weekend would be 493, and another scheduled start at Phoenix Raceway with MBM makes 494. Beyond that, Mears is actively shopping a 2026 deal armed with the momentum of his Sunday performance.

“We’re chasing 500,” he said. “So, we’re going to go to Martinsville, run Phoenix, and after that, I think we’re looking for six more races next season.

“Just really want to make that 500 mark happen.”

Mears has earned one victory in his Cup career to date, the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Over the course of three decades, he’s driven for some of the iconic names in the sport: Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress and Chip Ganassi.

He then settled in with Germain Racing for several years during the 2010s, wrapping up his full-time NASCAR career following the 2016 season. Since then, Mears had run just one Cup race — the 2019 Daytona 500 — before returning for this limited schedule with MBM.

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The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 40+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.

You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.

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