Casey Mears was a lap down with four laps to go, but made the Daytona 500 field anyway in NASCAR Daytona Duel No. 1 on Feb. 12 at Daytona International Speedway.
Mears got his lap back via a free pass after a late caution ahead of an overtime restart, then took advantage of Corey Lajoie’s final-lap crash to become the top open car finisher and lock into the Daytona 500.
Mears, driving in the No. 66 Garage 66 entry owned by former driver Carl Long, went a lap down on Lap 46 after spinning at the entrance of pit road during green-flag stops.
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His car got stuck in the fronstretch grass, losing a lap. The other two open cars, Lajoie and Chandler Smith, were on the lead lap and competitive.
But a multi-car crash, with Smith involved, on Lap 56 allowed Mears to get the free pass.
On the overtime restart, Mears was well behind Lajoie who was inside the top five. Smith languished at the tail-end of the field with a damaged car, out of the picture.
As the leaders raced on the final lap, the bottom lane with Lajoie and teammate Brad Keselowski slumped as the outside lane surged ahead. John Hunter Nemechek got out of line after a bad bump before making contact with Lajoie.
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That contact triggered a multi-car crash, with Mears just missing a spinning Lajoie. Despite contact with Nemechek, Mears kept the car moving straight without lifting.
The Garage 66 team will have a lot of work to do over the coming days to either repair the damaged car or turn to a backup. But they have a spot in the Daytona 500.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Casey Mears makes Daytona 500 after Corey Lajoie final lap crash in NASCAR Daytona duels
