For the second consecutive year, NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Noah Gragson will drive the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet in an attempt to make the Feb. 20 Daytona 500.
The No. 62 is a non-chartered entry, meaning Gragson must race his way in.
Last year, he was unable to do so. He was prevented from making a qualifying run after his car failed inspection three times. Then in his Duel race, his hopes officially ended when he was collected in a crash with four laps to go.
“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 didn’t compete again in 2021 due to qualifying not being held at the other Cup Series superspeedway events.
The organization, which is aligned with Richard Childress Racing, primarily focuses on those events at Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway. It announced in September that it had secured a Next Gen car, which makes its competition debut next season.