NASCAR team confirms it will sit out Daytona’s regular season finale, issues official statement

Part-time NASCAR Cup Series team Beard Motorsports recently put out a statement talking about the final race of the season. The team stated it will not participate in the upcoming race.

Beard Motorsports is known for its participation in Superspeedway events. However, the organization has confirmed that the team will skip this race. The team representative cited the reason for the decision to focus on the upcoming Talladega races, which are set to take place in October. It said (via tobychristie.com):

“Beard [Motorsports] approached this year a little differently. Instead of racing specifically on superspeedway, the team opted to enter Texas and Indianapolis this year, in addition to the DAYTONA 500 and both Talladega races.”

Beard Motorsports has appeared four times this season at the NASCAR Cup Series races: the Daytona 500, the spring race at Talladega, Texas Motor Speedway in May, and the Brickyard 400. The team founded by the late Mark Beard Sr. has had 33 starts, one top five, and seven top 10s since 2017.

Currently, the team plans on returning to the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in October for the Cup Series playoffs.

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Denny Hamlin talks about NASCAR's 'typical' habit

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin recently spoke about the leaked schedule ahead of the 2026 season. He commented that the leak is typical and that the drivers and teams have no control over it.

NASCAR's possible 2026 schedule was leaked earlier this week, and it gave the fans an insight into the tracks and destinations. Denny Hamlin spoke about the same on his podcast, Actions Detrimental, which he hosts alongside Jared Allen. He also highlighted how the teams and the drivers have no control over the schedule, saying (10:35 onwards):

“Some of this schedule stuff is slowly leaking out. This is typical each year. The weeks leading up where they’re leaking this track is in, this track is out. They’ve said Iowa is in limbo… Chicagoland, no Chicago, San Diego is in. You know, I don’t know, it’s an interesting kind of how it all works."

“I can assure you with one thing for certain, as much as they talk about collaboration - NASCAR doesn’t collaborate at all with the teams, drivers, or anyone on the schedule. That’s their whole thing. We have nothing to do with it, no input, no nothing. Whatever it is, it’s what they came up with,” he added.

Hamlin drives the #11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing and is also the co-owner of the team 23XI Racing alongside NBA legend Michael Jordan. He currently sits third in the championship and has four wins, 13 top 10s, and 11 top fives.