When the green flag waves for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the focus will be on the championship picture and drivers who could end the season with one final victory. But there are two drivers who, despite the fact they will almost certainly not be in contention to win, will earn a milestone in the season finale.
Casey Mears, piloting the No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro for Beard Motorsports, will make his 500th Cup start. JJ Yeley, meanwhile, will make his 400th Cup start in NY Racing’s No. 44 Chevrolet.
Casey Mears
Mears made his move from open wheel to NASCAR in 2001. Two years later, he earned a full-time opportunity for Chip Ganassi Racing. Mears would drive for them for four seasons, piloting the No. 40 from 2003 to 2005 and the No. 41 in 2006. His rookie season was difficult, only seeing one top-15. His sophomore year was better, with his first top-5, nine top-10s, and two poles. 2005 also saw nine top-10s, but two more top-5s. Entering 2006, Mears had earned two consecutive 22nd-place points finish. 2006 saw a 14th-place finish, but one less top-5 and one less top-10 than 2005.
Mears’ flashes of brilliance allowed him the opportunity to move to Hendrick Motorsports for the 2007 season. 2007 was the best season of the Californian’s career, with his only win in the Coca Cola 600, five top-5s, and ten top-10s. 2008 saw a regression, with only one top-5 and six top-10s. The next season, he moved to Richard Childress Racing.
Journeyman Status
Ultimately, this would be Mears’ final season in top-tier equipment. In 2010, he attempted 30 races for four different teams. The first six races saw five DNQs for Keyed-Up Motorsports, with four additional DNQs coming for Tommy Baldwin Racing and Germain Racing. From the 24th race of the 2010 season to the final race of the 2016 season, the Germain Racing No. 13 would be Casey Mears’. In 6.5 seasons, he earned one top-5 and five top-10s.
In 2017, Ty Dillon took over the No. 13, leaving Mears without a ride. Between 2017 and 2024, he would only make one Cup start: The 2019 Daytona 500 in a second car for Germain. Seemingly, his Cup career would end with 489 starts. However, on March 13 of 2025, Garage 66 announced Mears’ return at Martinsville Speedway, with the goal of 500 Cup starts for the series veteran. Mears would run five races for Garage 66, with a best finish of 18th-place at Talladega Superspeedway. Notably, Mears cited Bob Germain’s support with the Gracie Foundation as one of the main reasons why he reached 500 starts.
Entering the 2026 season, Mears needed to make six more starts. His road to 500 would start in the best way, as he would upset RFK Racing’s Corey Lajoie and Front Row Motorsports’ Chandler Smith to make the Daytona 500. Following this, Beard Motorsports signed him to a five-race deal. This would turn into six races following a DNQ in the spring Talladega race.
“It feels good man, it’s awesome,” Mears said on his accomplishment, “this is something that I’ve thought about for about four or five years now and started talking about it probably about three years ago, so it’s been a longer time coming then I’ve even realized myself of trying to reach this goal. Last year when we started running at Martinsville and those little races trying to get the word out there, I would have never thought we would have gotten to this point.”
JJ Yeley
In a way, Mears and Yeley have had rather similar careers. Both got their racing starts off-asphalt (Mears open wheel, Yeley dirt), and both ran their first seasons for a top-tier team (Mears CGR, Yeley Joe Gibbs Racing). Yeley’s first 78 cup starts all came for JGR, with two part-time seasons in 2004 and 2005 followed by two full seasons. In these starts, the Arizonan would only earn one top-5 and six top-10s. Due to this, JGR would put Kyle Busch in their No. 18 full-time in 2008, with Yeley moving to alliance team Hall of Fame Racing. Yeley would attempt the opening 21 races and make 18, with a best finish of 3rd-place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Small Teams
2009 only saw one attempt, a DNQ in the Coke 600, while 2010 saw 17 races for various small teams. 2011 saw a near-full season (31 starts in 34 attempts) between Whitney Motorsports and Front Row Motorsports, while 2012 saw one (24 starts in 35 attempts) for three smaller teams. 2013 saw Yeley run all but the two road courses for Tommy Baldwin Racing. The next season, Yeley made 18 starts, also for three smaller teams.
Like 2013, Yeley would run all but two races in 2015, this time for BK Racing. 2016 would be the first time since 2009 Yeley did not start a Cup race, while 2017 saw a four race return to TBR. Like 2011 and 2014, 2018 would see an 18-race schedule split between three teams. Two of them, Rick Ware Racing and NY Racing, became homes for the Arizona driver.
Rick Ware Racing and NY Racing
2019 saw a 15 race schedule for RWR. 2020 would see another near-full season effort, with 34 starts, most of which coming for RWR. 2021 saw his RWR schedule shrink to seven races, with an additional start for Garage 66. 2022 saw a further 18 starts for Ware and one for Garage 66. 2023 would be the journeyman’s ‘last horrah’ of sorts, with a 26 race schedule for RWR. In these races, Yeley earned a 7th-place at Echo-Park Speedway, his first top-10 since 2013.
Despite this, Yeley would not return to Rick Ware Racing in 2024. The past three seasons have seen 21 starts for NY Racing, with a best finish of 21st-place at Michigan International Raceway this season. However, the highlight of his time at NYR would not come in any of these races. In 2024 and 2025, the No. 44 went up against JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier and Legacy Motor Club’s Jimmie Johnson to make the Daytona 500. While the now 50-year-old failed to do so both times, he took the battle to the final corner despite far inferior equipment.
“Honestly it was a number I never really gave a whole lot of thought to,” Yeley said. “I knew that it was creeping up and didn’t pay that much attention. Actually, I hit 400 this year in the O’Reilly (Auto Parts) Series at Nashville in July, so at that point I just kind of pulled up some crazy set on Chat GPT and was like ‘wow, I’m not too far out on the Cup side of things’, so you know, this year I hadn’t been able to run nearly as many races as I’d hoped to, I think this makes my fifth race, but a monumental one at Homestead. I’m excited for the opportunity to be back.”
“To still be here at the age of 50, making laps and having good speed, is fun, and obviously the most important part is enjoying what I do,” Yeley added.
Looking at Homestead
Both drivers recalled early-career runs at Homestead that stand as “what could have been” races. Mears was in contention to win the 2005 race until a late caution, while Yeley ran out of fuel from the top-3 in 2006.
Mears will roll off the grid in 37th-place, while Yeley will role off in 38th.
