Beard Motorsports’ Noah Gragson will compete in the Daytona 500

Noah Gragson, a regular in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, will drive the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet in an attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 on February 20.

Because the No. 62 is a non-chartered entry, Gragson will have to race his way in.

He was unable to do so last year. His car failed inspection three times, preventing him from making a qualifying run. Then, with four laps to go in his Duel race, his hopes were dashed when he was collected in an accident.

“I’m so happy to have this opportunity to return to Daytona with Beard Motorsports,” Gragson said in a release Tuesday. “It was good to get a taste of Cup racing in last year’s Duel, but it left us all wanting more. We’ve got some unfinished business down there.”

“To say that we can’t wait to get back to Daytona is a massive understatement,” added Amie Beard, the team’s executive vice president. “From the moment my father (the late Mark Beard Sr.) founded this race team, we all took a tremendous amount of pride in showing up and performing right alongside the established teams in the sport.

“Last year didn’t go the way we wanted, but that’s just made us more motivated to return.”

Beard Motorsports did not race in the 2021 Cup Series superspeedway events because qualifying was not held.

The group, which is aligned with Richard Childress Racing, focuses largely on the Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway events. It revealed in September that it has obtained a Next Gen car, which will compete next season.

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