Noah Gragson to take over for Brendan Gaughan in the No. 62 for Daytona 500 entry

After winning last year’s Daytona 300 in the Xfinity Series, Noah Gragson will attempt to qualify for the main Cup race this year driving the No. 62 Chevrolet for Beard Motorsports, the team announced Thursday.

Gragson raced the last two seasons full-time in the Xfinity Series in the No. 9 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports and will return to that ride full-time for the 2021 Xfinity season. Gragson’s Daytona victory last year marked his first of two wins in the series. He also won the first race at Bristol and earned 17 top-five finishes and 25 top-10s in 2020.

Gragson, 22, will be the second driver to race for Beard Motorsports after Brendan Gaughan retired at the end of last season. Gaughan made 17 Cup starts for the team dating back to 2017, which races a part-time schedule by entering only superspeedway events at Daytona and Talladega. Gaughan finished seventh in last year’s Daytona 500 and hand-picked Gragson, a fellow Las Vegas native, to take over for him in the No. 62.

“I’ve known Noah a long time and I know he’s a very good racecar driver who is ready to do some Cup racing,” Gaughan said in a statement. “Just as importantly, he takes good care of his equipment and he’s there at the end of races. In his entire Xfinity Series career, he’s only had four DNFs. That’s important no matter who you’re racing for, but it’s especially important for Beard Motorsports.”

Gaughan finished 11 of his 17 superspeedway races for the team, which is run by president Mark Beard Sr. The team has a technical partnership with Richard Childress Racing and fields cars constructed by RCR and powered by ECR-built engines.

“Racing is our passion project,” said Beard, a former NASCAR driver. “Even with Brendan’s retirement, we wanted to keep racing. We’ve accomplished a lot with the resources we have and we’re proud to give Noah the chance to chase his dream just like we chase ours.”

Gragson will join another 22-year-old driver from the lower NASCAR ranks in making a Cup Series Daytona 500 attempt this year. Kaulig Racing announced Wednesday that Kaz Grala will drive a part-time Cup schedule in the No. 16 Chevrolet, beginning with the Daytona 500 next month. Grala competed part-time in the Xfinity Series for RCR last year and made one Cup start at the Daytona Road course in place of Austin Dillon after Dillon tested positive for COVID-19.

Anthony Alfredo, 21, represents another driver making the Xfinity to Cup jump. He’ll be a rookie in the series running full-time, alongside Chase Briscoe and Ross Chastain, driving the No. 38 Ford for Front Row Motorsports in place of John Hunter Nemechek.

Gragson, like Grala and Alfredo, made his way through the NASCAR ranks competing in the Truck Series and the K&N Pro Series in the years prior. He raced in Trucks in 2017 and 2018, winning twice and finishing second in the 2018 championship.

“As a young racer from Las Vegas, I had always dreamt of racing in the Daytona 500,” Gragson said. “I’m very appreciative of the faith the Beard Family and Brendan have in me, and equally appreciative to JR Motorsports for allowing me to pull double duty and compete for them in the Xfinity Series and also Beard Motorsports while we’re down in Daytona.”