NASCAR Xfinity Series: MBM Motorsports – Mid-Ohio highlights

MBM Motorsports field two full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series entries. At Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Chad Finchum drove the #40 Toyota and Tim Cowen drove the #66 Ford.

Carl Long may be best known in NASCAR for his suspension in 2009. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he is the owner of MBM Motorsports. Entering the 2018 season, the best finish in the Xfinity Series for the team was 13th place. Alon Day finished in 13th at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August of 2016, and Brandon Hightower matched that finish at Daytona International Speedway in February of 2017.

In 2018, the team field two full-time entries in the Xfinity Series. Chad Finchum drives the #40 Toyota, and a variety of drivers have wheeled the #66 car. Occasionally, the team field the #13 Toyota. Additionally, they also field a part-time Cup Series entry, the #66 car. Of note, Mark Thompson finished in 22nd place driving #66 Ford in the 2018 Daytona 500 in his final NASCAR start.

Coming into the 2018 Rock N Roll Tequila 170 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the team’s best finishes of the season occurred at the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway. Chad Finchum finished in 14th place in his #40 Toyota and Timmy Hill drove the #66 Toyota to a seventh place finish.

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Entering the race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Chad Finchum sat in 32nd place in the championship standings. Because a variety of drivers have wheeled the #66 car, owner points are a better indication of the team’s position. The #66 MBM Motorsports entry began the Rock N Roll Tequila 170 in 40th in the owner standings.

At Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, MBM Motorsports fielded three Xfinity Series entries. Of course, Chad Finchum drove the #40 Toyota. Tim Cowen drove at his home track in the #66 Ford. Lastly, the team entered the #13 Dodge for John Jackson.

I had the opportunity to speak to the drivers of the two full-time entries, Tim Cowen and Chad Finchum, about their thoughts on the Rock N Roll Tequila 170. These interviews will be published on Beyond the Flag shortly.

While MBM Motorsports have both Twitter and Facebook accounts, the most active account is Carl Long Motorsports, a Facebook account with postings from team owner Carl Long. He regularly updates the account with information and photos.

Following the 2018 Rock N Roll Tequila 170 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Long posted this recap along with photos of each of the teams’ entries.

We had a clean weekend at Mid-Ohio.. Tim Cowen (Cowen Trucking) was our top finisher in 26th. He and Chad Finchum…

Posted by Carl Long Motorsports on Sunday, August 12, 2018

Cowen finished in 26th place and Finchum finished in 29th. John Jackson finished in 35th place driving the #13 Dodge. MBM Motorsports also accomplished something unique this past NASCAR race weekend.

Because the team receive no manufacturer support and do not have any Cup Series team affiliation outside of their own Cup Series team, they can race using any manufacturer’s car. One fan pointed out the neat accomplishment.

When the team noticed this, here is how they replied.

In addition to him speaking to me on the phone a few days after the Rock N Roll Tequila 170, Chad Finchum uploaded this video to Twitter. In it, he described the end of his race.

Finchum is now tied for 32nd place in the championship standings. He mentioned to me that his goal is to crack the top 30 in the standings by the end of the season. Currently, he is 34 points behind 30th place Shane Lee.

Ryan Preece, Chase Briscoe, and Tommy Joe Martins are three of the drivers ahead of Finchum in the point standings. All of them are running partial schedules this season, so he may overtake them by the end of this season.

The #66 MBM Motorsports entry is currently in 39th place in the owner standings. Of the teams higher that this entry in the point standings, the #28 JGL Racing entry is defunct and the #98 Biagi-DenBeste Racing Ford and the #12 Team Penske Ford only race part-time schedules. Similarly to their driver Chad Finchum, perhaps the #66 MBM Motorsports entry can overtake those teams and gain positions in the owner standings.

MBM Motorsports – Bristol preview

In the interview that I conducted with him, Finchum stated that Bristol Motor Speedway is his home NASCAR track, and Bristol hosts the next NASCAR race weekend. Three MBM Motorsports cars are entered for the Xfinity Series race, the 2018 Food City 300.

Finchum will drive the #40 Toyota with sponsorship from Smithbilt Homes. When I spoke with him, he said that he will drive a composite body in this race. Long will drive the #13 Toyota. Both he and Timmy Hill, who will drive the #66 Chevrolet, do not have sponsors listed for their cars.

Hill will drive double-duty at Bristol. As referenced above, in the Food City 300, he will drive #66 Chevrolet. In the Cup Series race, the 2018 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, the following night, he will drive the #66 Toyota, which also does not list a sponsor for the Cup Series race.

The NASCAR race weekend begins Thursday with the Truck Series race. Then on Friday, the Xfinity Series drivers race, and then Cup Series drivers will battle it out on Saturday night. Between now and then, there may be updates to the entry lists for each of these three races.

Lastly, before my interviews with them are published, I would like to thank Chad Finchum and Tim Cowen for speaking with me. Their kindness in allowing me to hear about their Mid-Ohio experiences is part of the reason why I love NASCAR.

Also, thank you to Carl Long for communicating with me on the Carl Long Motorsports Facebook page and for his willingness to allow an article to be written about his team’s performance in the Rock N Roll Tequila 170 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Because MBM Motorsports drivers will compete in two out of the three races this upcoming NASCAR race weekend, here is the information for both races. On Friday, August 17, Chad Finchum, Timmy Hill, Carl Long and the rest of the Xfinity Series drivers will race in the 2018 Food City 300. The racing action is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET., and NBC Sports Network is scheduled to broadcast it live.

The following night, Saturday, August 18, Timmy Hill and 39 other Cup Series drivers will battle it out under the lights in the 2018 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, which is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET and is also scheduled to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network.