At Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 12, 2026, the determined crew of Garage 66 and their driver Casey Mears secured a spot in the Daytona 500, only to find themselves facing a major setback when their race car ended up severely damaged. Refusing to let go of their Daytona 500 journey, the small team made an extraordinary decision to cannibalize their own car meant for the EchoPark Speedway, stripping it for crucial parts overnight to make their No. 66 Ford race-ready for NASCAR’s premier event.
After racing through hurdles in Thursday night’s qualifying duel, Casey Mears and Garage 66 celebrated, but their written-off car was a stark reality check. The team’s owner, Carl Long, and his small crew endured over ten relentless hours, dismantling, cleaning, and refitting parts from their only backup, because they lacked the resources that other NASCAR Cup Series teams take for granted. The Garage 66 Daytona 500 journey became a testament to their commitment and desperation, marked by a night of unconventional engineering.
Choosing Survival Over Strategy: Sacrificing the EchoPark Speedway Car
Garage 66, with just eight full-time employees, couldn’t afford the luxury of a backup fleet or a trailer packed with extra parts. Instead, Long faced a hard choice: bring a full spare car or load up on spare pieces. Ultimately, they brought the car, not realizing it would soon be harvested piece by piece to keep their Daytona entry alive. The damage on Thursday was not minor; Mears had clipped Daniel Suarez‘s bumper, leaving the No. 66 front end and internals pancaked. However, since NASCAR had not officially declared the car “wrecked,” the crew was allowed to make repairs instead of forfeiting their qualifying spot.
The ordeal was more complicated than a typical pit stop fix. The team discovered that the car’s lower control arm—vital for suspension—was bent, pushing them to more drastic measures. Through sweat and unease, the mechanics worked into the night, driven less by hope than necessity.
“Well, we thought we were finished,”
Carl Long, Team Owner
“This is the Daytona 500. I’m not screwing around with it.”
Carl Long, Team Owner
Facing NASCAR Rules and Tight Schedules
Early Friday, the crew’s salvage operation ran into resistance from NASCAR officials, who told Long that the extra Atlanta-bound car could not touch the ground once removed from the hauler. Frustrated, Long turned his attention to his other teams in ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, leaving his lead mechanic Austin Webb to handle the ruling and the intricate logistics.
“It was not touching the ground,”
Austin Webb, Lead Mechanic
Webb negotiated with NASCAR, securing a sliver of permission to keep disassembling the car as long as it “disappeared” afterward. He and his team wasted no time, stripping the backup from its front bumper through to the right door panel, exposed for all passersby.
“Traditionally, you don’t pull it off with another car.”
Austin Webb, Lead Mechanic
“Frankenstein” Engineering: Building a Race-Ready Car from Spare Parts
As Friday’s Truck Series race echoed in the background, Garage 66’s mechanics worked relentlessly on the battered Ford, blending components from the Atlanta car into their Daytona racer. Bumper, splitter, engine pan, right-side body panels, and intricate gearbox louvers were all scavenged and transplanted, alongside parts as diverse as a radiator and oil lines. Hours melted together in the humid garage as the Frankenstein’d machine took shape under the dim overhead lights.
“We had a nose, a splitter, an engine pan, front bumper, bumper foam, right front, basically right-side body, boarded the whole right side and the front clip has little hooks on it that’ll adjust the louvers for the gearbox,”
Carl Long, Team Owner
“It snapped all of them off. So, we had to rob them off the [Atlanta] car. Radiator, an oil line and something else like that.”
Carl Long, Team Owner
Tough Repairs and Endless Effort: No Rest for the Crew
The job was grueling: two hours to strip the backup, roughly six for the reassembly, and additional hours spent double-checking both vehicles and cross-referencing fit and function for superspeedway conditions. The Atlanta car eventually sat abandoned, picked clean, as onlookers witnessed both the desperation and resourcefulness of the Garage 66 crew.
“Tearing apart took about two hours, reassembly took about probably about six or so, and that’s just for this one,”
Austin Webb, Lead Mechanic
“Add another two to three hours on the other car, a couple hours just inspecting it, making sure everything’s good, right? … The Atlanta car, we just cannibalized it, put it on here and Frankenstein’d this car so that it’s a good superspeedway car.”
Austin Webb, Lead Mechanic
Even as the final Daytona 500 practice began on Saturday, new problems emerged. The lower control arm was still bent, further complicating what was supposed to be a finished build. The crew returned to work, unwilling to leave anything to chance with the Great American Race just hours away.
“There’s so much work that goes into the underbody in bringing a car to Daytona,”
Casey Mears, Driver
“Clearly, these guys only have a certain amount of time, and they did not get the chance to put that kind of effort into the potential Atlanta car if we were going to run there. So, when they found out that it was just a nose issue for the most part, and a little bit of stuff on the right side, they thought that was a better idea. It definitely wasn’t the quicker thing for them to do by any means, but they wanted to give me the best shot they can, which is amazing.”
Casey Mears, Driver
Nearing the Daytona 500: The Stakes and Sacrifice
After nearly a day and a half of engineering on the fly, the last pieces went on, and the Garage 66 Daytona 500 journey approached its dramatic culmination. Even as fans and media documented their stripped Atlanta car, the team’s focus was unyielding. Their gamble meant uncertainty for next week’s Atlanta event, since the cannibalized chassis might not recover in time.
“This would have to be the Atlanta car,”
Carl Long, Team Owner
“So, [Sunday] night, you can tell me whether this one can go to Atlanta or not. You’ll know before I do.”
Carl Long, Team Owner
Why Garage 66’s Story Resonates in NASCAR
The saga of Garage 66 underlines the financial and logistical challenges facing smaller teams in the fiercely competitive NASCAR Cup Series. Lacking limitless resources, Carl Long, Austin Webb, and Casey Mears exemplify the lengths a crew will go in pursuit of a racing dream. Their approach was risky—suspending next week’s Atlanta plans, using parts meant for another race, and courting mechanical risk—but it speaks to perseverance celebrated in motorsport folklore.
With Daytona now the main focus, Garage 66 stands as a testament to ingenuity and drive, their journey through the garages of Daytona Beach echoing far beyond the roar of engines on race day. The outcome—whether their rebuilt racer survives the Great American Race—will determine if their sacrifice becomes triumph or just another hard lesson from NASCAR’s storied pit roads.
"Damn right, we're in!" Listen to the scanner from Casey Mears and the No. 66 team. pic.twitter.com/fOtZyEqMbJ
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 13, 2026
Like what Carl Long said last night, @MBMMotorsports is stripping down their Atlanta car that was ready for next week and using the parts to prep its Daytona 500 car#NASCAR #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/czdhZGlnI1
— Dalton Hopkins (@PitLaneCPT) February 13, 2026
