 | |
| Owner(s) | Linda Beard[1] Mark Beard Jr. Annie Beard |
|---|---|
| Base | Mooresville, North Carolina |
| Series | NASCAR Cup Series |
| Race drivers | 62.Anthony Alfredo,Jesse Love (part-time) |
| Manufacturer | Chevrolet |
| Opened | 2009 |
| Website | beardoilmotorsports |
| Career | |
| Debut | Cup Series: 2017Daytona 500 (Daytona) Busch Series: 1982Goody's 300 (Daytona) ARCA Racing Series: 2009 Racing For Wildlife 200 (Michigan) |
| Races competed | Total: 52 Cup Series: 34 Busch Series: 11 ARCA Racing Series: 7 |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
Beard Motorsports is an American professionalstock car racing team that competes part-time in theNASCAR Cup Series with the No. 62Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE forAnthony Alfredo. The team was created in 2009 byMark Beard for competition in theARCA Menards Series. Beard Motorsports attempted two races in the Cup Series in 2014, with driverClay Rogers, making none. After going dormant in 2015 and 2016, the team returned part-time in 2017 withBrendan Gaughan.
During his driving career, Mark Beard raced for his own team in ARCA and theNASCAR Busch Series as anowner-driver, but also fielded cars in the 1990s for drivers like Gary Neice, Dana Patten,Bobby Dotter,L. D. Ottinger,Richard Lasater,Butch Miller, andJim Brinkley Jr.[2] The owner of the oil business Beard Oil, he founded Beard Motorsports in 2009 and began racing in ARCA withClay Rogers; Beard acquired equipment fromHendrick Motorsports.[3][4] The team split time between the numbers 42 and 45 and scored a best finish of fourth atIowa Speedway.[5]
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Mark Beard founded the team during the2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The race team's engine was built with oldHendrick Motorsports parts and with tests at various east coast tracks, including atNew Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The team was on the entry list for the July race at Loudon but withdrew their car before attempting to qualify.[6] The team then attempted to run atRichmond International Raceway two months later withClay Rogers in the No. 75 Beard Oil Chevrolet;[7] however, they failed to qualify for the race. The last time Beard Motorsports attempted to qualify for a race was atPhoenix International Raceway with Rogers, but weren't able to make the race.[8]
The team did not attempt any races in 2015 or 2016.[9]
In 2017, Beard Motorsports announced it would run theDaytona 500 withBrendan Gaughan in the No. 75 Beard Oil Chevrolet.[10] Gaughan'sRichard Childress RacingXfinity Series pit crew serviced the car and the team used a Childress engine. The team also bought a car fromLeavine Family Racing, a Childress satellite; the car had finished fifteenth in the previous year's Daytona 500 withMichael McDowell.[11] The team did not possess a NASCAR charter.[12] As one of the two fastest non-charter cars in qualifying, Gaughan was able to make the field.
Gaughan then secured an eleventh-place finish in the Daytona 500, the first race in the Cup Series for the team.[13] The team announced it would enter the other three 2017restrictor plate races. Gaughan and the team returned at Talladega, finishing 27th. Then on July 1 in theCoke Zero 400, Brendan Gaughan drove the team's car to a seventh place finish,[14] despite hitting the wall once in the race. The team's next race was the Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Gaughan led laps and ended up seventeenth after avoiding the big one then being collected in the next crash.
The team came back for the 2018 slate of restrictor-plate races, and did the same as well in 2019, using cars fromRichard Childress Racing, engines from ECR Engines, and technical support from the Childress crew.[15]
2020 marked Gaughan's final season as a driver.[16] He made the field at the2020 Daytona 500 by posting the second fastest qualifying speed of all the non-charter teams (188.945 mph; 33rd overall).[17] Gaughan's tenure with the team and career ended in theYellaWood 500 at Talladega, where he finished 35th after being collected in a Stage 2 wreck.[18][19]
On January 14, 2021, Beard announcedNoah Gragson would attempt to make his Cup debut in theDaytona 500.[20] On January 31, just fourteen days before the 500, team owner Mark Beard died at age 72.[21]
On September 7, 2021, Beard Motorsports announced they will return in the2022 season, entering the No. 62 in all four superspeedway races with Gragson competing in the2022 Daytona 500.[22] Gragson finally made his debut, but he failed to finish being involved in a crash. He achieved sponsorship fromWendy's for Talladega and achieved his first ever top-twenty finish in a Cup Series race. Later on, at the August Daytona Race, Gragson finished fifth in the race, giving the team their first top 5 in a NASCAR Cup Series race.
Beard Motorsports attempted to make the2023 Daytona 500 withAustin Hill, but Hill failed to make the field after a late crash resulted in an eighteenth place finish in Duel 2 of the2023 Bluegreen Vacations Duels.[23]
For the2024 season, Beard Motorsports signedAnthony Alfredo to drive the No. 62. Alfredo finished 27th at the2024 Daytona 500 and scored a career-best sixth place finish atTalladega.[24] At the2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400,Parker Retzlaff scored an impressive seventh place finish after pushingHarrison Burton to the lead under an overtime finish.[25]
| Year | Driver | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 39 | 11 |
| 2018 | 25 | 28 | ||
| 2019 | 30 | 23 | ||
| 2020 | 39 | 7 | ||
| 2021 | Noah Gragson | DNQ | ||
| 2022 | 39 | 31 | ||
| 2023 | Austin Hill | DNQ | ||
| 2024 | Anthony Alfredo | 39 | 27 | |
| 2025 | DNQ | |||