Beard Motorsports is an American professional

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

team that competes part-time in the

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

with the No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Austin Hill. The team was created in 2009 by Mark Beard for competition in the ARCA Menards Series. Beard Motorsports attempted two races in the Cup Series in 2014, with driver

Clay Rogers Clayton Rogers (born November 6, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He has competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series, and is the 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2010 champion in the ...

, making none. After going dormant in 2015 and 2016, the team returned part-time in 2017 with

Brendan Gaughan William Brendan Gaughan (born July 10, 1975) is an American professional racing driver who has competed in off-road and stock cars. He is the grandson of Vegas gaming pioneer Jackie Gaughan and son of Michael Gaughan, a hotel and casino magnate. ...

History

Early years

During his driving career, Mark Beard raced for his own team in ARCA and the NASCAR Busch Series as an owner-driver, but also fielded cars in the 1990s for drivers like Gary Neice, Dana Patten,

Bobby Dotter Bobby Dotter (born July 11, 1960) is a former professional stock car racing driver. His father, Bob Dotter, is a three-time champion of the Automobile Racing Club of America. Dotter has made 209 starts in the NASCAR Busch Series, posting 42 top-te ...

L. D. Ottinger Lloyd Doth "L. D." Ottinger (born December 30, 1938) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He raced occasionally in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series during his career. Driving the Black Diamond Coal No. 2 Chevy, he was a Champio ...

Richard Lasater Richard Lasater (born October 6, 1965) is an American former stock car racing driver and crew chief. Lasater competed in 80 NASCAR Busch Series (now NASCAR Xfinity Series) races between 1990 and 1994, reaching the top ten twice. He served as crew ...

, Butch Miller, and Jim Brinkley Jr. The owner of the oil business Beard Oil, he founded Beard Motorsports in 2009 and began racing in ARCA with

; Beard acquired equipment from

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 291 Cup Seri ...

. The team split time between the numbers 42 and 45 and scored a best finish of fourth at Iowa Speedway.

Cup Series

Mark Beard founded the team during the

2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series The 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 66th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 43rd modern-era Cup season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway, with the Sprint Unlimited, followed by the Da ...

. The race team's engine was built with old

parts and with tests at various east coast tracks, including at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The team was on the entry list for the July race at Loudon but withdrew their car before attempting to qualify. The team then attempted to run at Richmond International Raceway two months later with

in the No. 75 Beard Oil Chevrolet; however, they failed to qualify for the race. The last time Beard Motorsports attempted to qualify for a race was at

Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. P ...

with Rogers, but weren't able to make the race. The team did not attempt any races in 2015 or 2016. In 2017, Beard Motorsports announced it would run the

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

with

in the No. 75 Beard Oil Chevrolet. Gaughan's

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard ...

Xfinity Series pit crew serviced the car and the team used a Childress engine. The team also bought a car from

Leavine Family Racing Leavine Family Racing (formerly Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing and originally Leavine Fenton Racing) was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. Owned by Sharon and Bob Leavine, the tea ...

, a Childress satellite; the car had finished 15th in the previous year's Daytona 500 with Michael McDowell. The team does not possess a NASCAR charter. As one of the two fastest non-charter cars in qualifying, Gaughan was able to make the field. Gaughan then secured an 11th-place finish in the Daytona 500, the first race in the Cup Series for the team. The team announced it would enter the other three 2017 restrictor plate races. Gaughan and the team returned at Talladega, finishing 27th. Then on July 1 in the Coke Zero 400, Brendan Gaughan drove the team's car to a seventh-place finish, 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 17th 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 from

, engines from ECR Engines, and technical support from the Childress crew. 2020 marked Gaughan's final season as a driver. He made the field at the

2020 Daytona 500 The 2020 Daytona 500, the 62nd running of the Daytona 500, event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on February 16–17, 2020. It was contested over 209 laps—extended from 200 laps due to an green-white-checker finish, overtime finish, on the a ...

by posting the second fastest qualifying speed of all the non-charter teams (188.945 mph; 33rd overall). Gaughan's tenure with the team and career ended in the

YellaWood 500 The YellaWood 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, hosting an event in the NASCAR playoffs. The race is one of four NASCAR Cup Series races currently run with tapered spacers, the others ...

at Talladega, where he finished 35th after being collected in a Stage 2 wreck. On January 14, 2021, Beard announced Noah Gragson would attempt to make his Cup debut in the

. On January 31, just 14 days before the 500, team owner Mark Beard died at age 72. On September 7, 2021, Beard Motorsports announced they will return in the 2022 season, entering the No. 62 in all four superspeedway races with Gragson competing in the

2022 Daytona 500 The 2022 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series and the 64th running of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 20, 2022, in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a asphalt superspeedwa ...

. Gragson finally made his debut, but he failed to finish being involved in a crash. He achieved sponsorship from

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the ...

for Talladega and achieved his first ever top-20 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.

Car No. 62 results

Car No. 75 results

=Daytona 500

References

External links

* {{Chevrolet in NASCAR NASCAR teams Iredell County, North Carolina American auto racing teams Auto racing teams established in 2009