Casey Mears, who hadn’t started a NASCAR Cup Series race since 2019 before returning to the series with Garage 66 at Martinsville Speedway in the Spring, is chasing 500 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series. By this time next week, he’ll be just nine races shy of that milestone as he is set to compete in Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Mears, 47, will once again slide behind the wheel of the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse. This time, he’ll have primary sponsorship from S.I. Yachts, one of the world’s oldest and largest dealers for Viking Yachts and Valhalla Boatworks.
The native of Bakersfield, California, who won the Coca-Cola 600 in 2007, is excited to return to the 2.5-mile superspeedway in Florida.
“I’m excited to have this opportunity to return to one of my favorite tracks, and I’m grateful to S.I. Yachts and Acrisure for their support, and to Carl Long for putting me in his car,” Mears said in a team press release. “My relationship with Bob Germain and the Germain family is special to me, so it’s only appropriate for us to return to Daytona, a track where we’ve had a lot of success together and share many special memories. I’m also appreciative of Acrisure’s continued partnership. I’ve enjoyed the relationship we’ve built, and I look forward to our continued collaboration.”
Carl Long, who owns the Garage 66 team, couldn’t be happier to once again field a car for Mears, and the team owner says he has secured a Roush-Yates engine as well as a top-tier pit crew to give Mears the best chance to compete for a solid finish on Saturday night.
“I’m glad we could put this partnership together, and we’re excited to have Casey in our car at Daytona,” Long said. “We secured a Roush Yates engine and a quality pit crew, so we’re looking forward to hitting the track. We appreciate the support of S.I. Yachts and Acrisure, and it means a lot to have the Germain family’s backing. The Germain family has a storied history in NASCAR, with two NASCAR Truck Series Championships and a Cup Series team that spanned 12 years, so I’m honored to have them on board with us this weekend.”
S.I. Yachts is happy to play a hand in Mears’ quest for 500 career NASCAR Cup Series starts.
“We’re excited to support Casey as he aims to surpass the 500-start milestone, and we’re thrilled to reconnect with him in NASCAR,” said Zach Germain, CEO of S.I. Yachts. “Casey is a person of high character who aligns perfectly with our commitment to delivering high-quality, premium boats along with top-tier customer service. We’re dedicated to helping people create memories on the water, and we’re excited to help Casey make memories on the track.” He continued, “I got my enthusiasm for fishing and boating from my Uncle Bob Germain, and it’s an honor to be a Viking and Valhalla dealer because of our shared passion and the memories we’ve created over the years.”
In 490 NASCAR Cup Series starts, Mears has one win, 13 top-five finishes, and 51 top-10s. The driver finished a career-best 14th in the championship standings in 2006, and finished 35th in his first race back since 2019 earlier this year at Martinsville Speedway.
