DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Casey Mears spun on pit road at Daytona International Speedway, became briefly stuck in the infield grass, then missed a last-lap crash by mere inches.
After all that, he finished eighth in a qualifying race for the Daytona 500.
Good enough to get him into the “Great American Race” when the green flag drops on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season Sunday afternoon. And definitely good enough to feel a bit emotional Thursday night.
Mears choked back tears three separate times after squeezing into the 41-car field as the highest-finishing “open” car in the first of two 150-mile qualifying races.
“I was worried when we got stuck. I was worried about going two laps down,” Mears said. “Actually got on the radio and asked all the guys to stay calm, said, ‘We’ve still got a shot here.’ For sure when we were sitting in the grass, that wasn’t pretty.