Beard Motorsports: Anthony Alfredo Daytona 500 Advance

● Alfredo Returns. Back behind the wheel for his fourth event in the No. 62 Chevrolet will be Anthony Alfredo, the 25-year-old from Ridgefield, Connecticut. Alfredo’s debut with the team at last year’s Daytona 500 got off to an impressive start as the NASCAR NEXT alumnus laid down the fastest lap among the six “open” (non-chartered) teams in Wednesday-night’s single-car qualifying session, securing a spot on the Daytona 500 grid regardless of his finishing position during Thursday night’s twin Duel qualifying races. From his 39th starting position, Alfredo drove to a 27th-place finish in the Daytona 500.

●Following It Up in Style. In his very next outing in the Beard Motorsports Chevrolet in the April race at Talladega, Alfredo posted the team’s best-ever finish of sixth at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. It was also his best Cup Series finish in 41 career starts. He concluded last year’s three-race Beard Motorsports run with a 24th-place finish in the October race at Talladega. He’ll be attempting to qualify for his 42nd career Cup Series race this week, the previous 41 including the full 2021 season driving for Front Row Motorsports. He’s made 118 career starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, including fulltime seasons in 2022, 2023 and 2024, with five top-fives and 22 top-10s. Alfredo’s NASCAR career began with a 13-race Craftsman Truck Series campaign in 2019.

● Building On a Budding Relationship. Adorning the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet for the second race in a row is Fortify Building Solutions. The brand, which made its first appearance with the team at Talladega last October, is part of Cornerstone Building Brands and offers North America’s most extensive selection of high-quality metal roofing, wall panels, and building solutions. Tailored for local builders, contractors, and homeowners, the brand’s 20-plus branches supply professionals and homeowners with hometown service and support, backed by a nationwide manufacturing and distribution network.

● Building on Daytona Momentum. When last seen on the Daytona oval for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in August, the Beard Motorsports Chevrolet recorded its second consecutive top-10 finish when 21-year-old Parker Retzlaff took the checkered flag seventh. It was the team’s fifth top-10 at Daytona, best of which was the fifth-place result by driver Noah Gragson in the 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400. Gaughan drove the Beard Motorsports Chevrolet to seventh-place finishes in the 2017 Coke Zero 400 and the 2020 Daytona 500, and to an eighth-place finish in the 2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400.

● It’s All in the Family. The 2025 NASCAR season is Beard Motorsports’ ninth competing in the Cup Series. What started out as a passion project for the late Mark Beard Sr., has become a tribute to the family’s patriarch. Linda Beard, along with her children, Amie Beard-Deja and Mark Beard Jr., have remained committed to the vision laid out by Mark Beard Sr., and have done so with notable success. Today, the No. 62 NASCAR Cup Series team is just one of their family-owned entities. Beard Oil Distributing is the foundation of the Beard family-owned business portfolio and is recognized as a women-owned certified organization through the Women Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

● A Peak Under the Hood. Since making their debut in the 2017 Daytona 500, the No. 62 Beard Motorsports team has been powered by an ECR-built engine and the team has leveraged the power of those engines to post solid finishes. During its eight seasons of racing, Beard Motorsports has participated in 30 Cup Series events, scoring two top-five finishes and seven top-10s.

“Well, the impressive thing is they do take a lot of pride in the efforts they’ve put forth, and they should because it’s not easy to run a partial schedule, especially in NASCAR’s premier series. So to bring Chevrolets as fast as they bring to the track, which have a legitimate shot to win, is a huge testament to the efforts of everyone who’s part of the team. Obviously, Darren Shaw, the crew chief, is the only fulltime employee, but they get plenty of help on race weekend. And with Amie and Linda Beard carrying on Mark’s legacy with this race team that he started quite a few years ago, now, it’s important to them and they don’t want to just go to the track to show up and be a part of the race. They want to win the race, and that’s what has stood out to me. When I had the opportunity to drive for them last year, it wasn’t just to run a few Cup races and have fun and say I got to do it or was a part of the show, these are races that I feel like we can literally go and win. So that’s the expectation we have and the Daytona 500’s obviously a little unique in the sense that you have to qualify in because there’s usually more than a full field of cars there compared to a lot of the other tracks. And this year is a really stout group of open cars, so we’re going to have to be on our A game. If we’re as fast as we were last year, we shouldn’t have a problem timing in again and having a stress-free Thursday-night Duel.”

Do you feel working with the team at Daytona and its sister track Talladega thus far has had an impact on your racecraft when it comes to the superspeedways?

“I certainly think I’ve grown to like superspeedway racing because, especially driving for smaller teams, I’ve prioritized those races and always circled them on the calendar because it’s the best opportunity for us to not only run well and finish up front, but legitimately contend for a win. I’ve had a little bit of better luck at Talladega as far as actually finishing up front, but I feel like I’ve had equal shots to win at both places and certainly look forward to going back to Daytona. I’ve just run well at the superspeedways and I’ve learned a lot each year, and especially returning to Beard Motorsports now for a second year, there’s a lot of chemistry and things we’ve built up as a team that are going to allow us to perform at a high level and execute the way we need to.”

You locked the No. 62 Chevrolet into last year’s Daytona 500 by being one of the two fastest open teams in Wednesday night’s single-car qualifying session. Obviously, the goal is to do the same this year, but if not, talk about your mindset as you try to race your way into Sunday’s race by outrunning all of your fellow open entries in your respective Duel qualifying race Thursday.

“I think last year was a huge learning curve. It was my first time doing that and it was certainly very stressful and nerve wracking, but we had a really fast car and it gave me a lot of confidence going into the race itself. And this year, we do have a practice session before qualifying, so we’ll have a better gauge as to where we’re going to be, speed-wise, although I’m not sure if that’s better or worse. I think it’s good to get a baseline on your car and have an idea of where you’re going to be. But the challenging part of it is the fact that everybody else has the opportunity to make their cars faster, too, during that practice session. But I’m confident in the speed we’re going to have off the truck and I doubt we’re going to make many adjustments, and hopefully on Wednesday we just lock ourselves into the show on speed like we did last year. But if it comes down to a Duel, it’s the same thing as the race – it’s got to be well executed. It’s going to be more difficult than last year was because, instead of just racing one or two other guys in your Duel, it’s going to be four or five. I think it’s going to be a very exciting race, so our goal will be to execute well, get on and off pit road if there is a green-flag stop, and position ourselves well for the end of the Duel. One of them is always crazy, so hopefully we’re not in that one. But I’m confident in the speed we have, especially after last year, and I think if we return with that kind of pace, we should be able to lock into the show on Wednesday night.”

Even though you’re currently not a fulltime Cup Series competitor, can you go into The Duel and, ultimately the Daytona 500, with a plan of who you can draft with?

“Well, the good news is there are a lot of other Chevrolets on track, so it’s usually easy to link up with one of them. We don’t have any true teammates or housemates, being a single car team, but we’ve got ECR power under the hood, so I’ll be looking for those cars. I know they’ll be fast like us and hopefully we can work together to benefit each other. It’s difficult not being a fulltime guy because you want to be respectful of those who are fighting for a shot at the playoffs in their respective points positions. But, believe it or not, I feel like out of all the races we run, the Daytona 500 is the least stressful on that note, just because it’s the first race of the season. Obviously the further through the year you get, guys are in more difficult point situations and things can get complicated. But for us, I think we’ll be in a good position to kind of work with some fellow Chevrolets. And for me, I think a lot of people have kind of come to know me. I’m still a young driver, but I have quite a bit of experience, especially in the Xfinity Series, and the few races I did last year with Beard Motorsports, we showed that we were fast, that I was smart, that I could take a push or give a push, lead laps. We’ve run up front, finished up front, checked all the boxes that I think the competitors look for to be comfortable racing around you and even working with you. So I’m hoping that gives us the opportunity to be a part of other strategies and work with other cars so that we’re not that kind of lone wolf, and that’ll ultimately give us a better shot at winning the race because it really comes down to some teamwork and cars being paired up together.”

You’ve had strong runs in Xfinity Series competition at Daytona and Talladega in recent years, most notably your third-place finish at Talladega in April, which came the day before you finished sixth there in the Cup Series race in the Beard Chevrolet. How do the two types of cars compare when it comes to superspeedway racing?

“The NextGen car is a lot different than the Xfinity car. I’m one to drive from 20th to the lead in one lap in an Xfinity car on a superspeedway, but it’s a lot harder to do in the Cup car. I feel like I’m pretty smart at managing the draft and blocking lanes and generating runs and working my way forward. But the races with this NextGen car have become more of a track-position race, which is kind of weird to say on a superspeedway. There is not as much shuffling in the field as you used to see, so I think it’s definitely positioning yourself for that final, green-flag pit stop, getting through all of those stops cleanly, and finishing all the stages. In that final stage, you want to be in a good spot coming to that last green-flag stop and then ultimately having that track position for that final run to the checkered flag because usually that’s when things get chaotic, too. The best place to be then is at the front, so you’re ahead of it.”

Back for your second race in a row in the Beard Chevrolet is Fortify Building Solutions, which you helped introduce in October at Talladega. Talk about this budding partnership.

“Fortify Building Solutions is a new sponsor for us that we brought on at the end of last year. And it was really exciting because we were able to kind of get their feet wet in the sport at Talladega, and we had another fast Chevrolet and learned a lot that weekend and were able to build that into an opportunity this year to tackle the Daytona 500 together. I’m really looking forward to that because they’re a great brand, they’ve got really awesome people that come to the track to support us, and we’re hoping to build that longterm and do a lot more together, so this is really just the tip of the iceberg with them. But to have the opportunity to run the Daytona 500 again with Beard Motorsports is all thanks to Fortify Building Solutions coming on board.”