TC Daily Pit Stop: Mears Attempting DAYTONA 500 for Garage 66; Labbe Running Road Courses for SSGLR; Weber Tapped as Clements CC
TC Daily Pit Stop: Monday, January 5, 2026
Carl Long Says Casey Mears ‘Lined Up’ For 2026 Daytona 500 With Garage 66
Casey Mears, a long-time NASCAR National Series veteran, is lined up for a bid in the DAYTONA 500, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Garage 66, Carl Long confirmed to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 on December 23.
“I’ve got enough stuff going on, I’m about as messed up as a soup sandwich right now,” Long quipped when pressed by Rice about his team’s 2026 plans. “But I can put it out here for you. We have committed [to] leasing engines [from Roush-Yates Engines] for our Cup car for the Daytona and the Talladega races this year. So, that’ll be four of them that we know. We have Casey Mears lined up to drive for us at Daytona. We’re just trying to get one sponsor deal back with us. I think Casey did an excellent job with us last year.”
The Garage 66 team, which attempted to make the field for the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium last season, will also return to attempt the preseason exhibition event in 2026, and according to Long, they will field either Chad Finchum or Josh Bilicki for that race.
Long feels that his team could compete in up to 26 races with the three Next Gen chassis in their rotation, but aside from Bowman Gray, the two Daytona races, and two Talladega races, Garage 66 currently only has Texas Motor Speedway and the Spring Bristol Motor Speedway race, both with Chad Finchum, solidified.
READ MORE
Alex Labbe Tapped for Road Course Events in SSGLR No. 0
Alex Labbé, a veteran of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series known for his prowess on the road and street courses, is set to make a return to SS-GreenLight Racing for a partial schedule in 2026.
The St. Albert, Quebec-native will be getting behind the wheel of the newly-renumbered No. 0 Chevrolet Camaro (fielded as the No. 14 in 2025) for all five of the second-tier series’ road course events this season.
Labbe, a former champion of the NASCAR Canada Series, will make his season debut at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, February 28. Other opportunities for the “road ringer” will come at Watkins Glen International (May 9), Naval Base Coronado (June 20), Sonoma Raceway (June 27), and the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL (October 10).
READ MORE
Matt Weber Promoted to Crew Chief for Jeremy Clements Racing
Matt Weber, a long-time engineer in NASCAR’s National Series, has been promoted to the role of crew chief for Jeremy Clements and Jeremy Clements Racing for the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Weber joined SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 on Thursday (January 1) to discuss his recent career path, which, after taking a few twists and turns, has led to his first full-time crew chiefing job in NASCAR.
“Actually, the last year has been sort of a rollercoaster,” said Weber. “Last year, I started as the engineer for the No. 5 team at Our Motorsports, but we were notified before Dover that they were shutting down.”
READ MORE
Other NASCAR Headlines:
Additional Resources:
 | A guest post by
|