NASCAR: How a 16th place finish saved a team’s season

Timmy Hill finished in 16th place out of 21 drivers in the second Bluegreen Vacations Duel. As insignificant as it seems, it saved his and his team’s entire 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.

In mid-December, MBM Motorsports announced that their plans for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season included a full-time program for Timmy Hill behind the wheel of the #66 car, which they confirmed as a Ford for the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

The Carl Long-owned operation had never previously fielded a full-time entry in Cup Series competition since they first began competing in the series back in 2017.

They competed in 12 races in the 2017 season, 20 races in the 2018 season and 15 races in the 2019 season, although one of the races in the 2019 season did feature them entering two cars.

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But it was clear when they made this announcement that their 2020 plans could hinge on whether or not Hill simply qualified for the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) superspeedway oval in Daytona Beach, Florida.

All 36 charters were already being utilized for the 2020 season, meaning that Hill would be battling for one of four open spots just to compete in the race. There ended up being 43 drivers on the entry list, including teammate Chad Finchum, so those four positions would be battled for among seven competitors.

Two drivers locked themselves into the race in the single-car qualifying session by being the fastest two competitors of this group of seven. Those two drivers were Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley and Beard Motorsports’ Brendan Gaughan.

This left Hill, Finchum, Premium Motorsports’ Reed Sorenson, Gaunt Brothers Racing’s Daniel Suarez and Rick Ware Racing’s J.J. Yeley to battle for the final two spots in the two Bluegreen Vacations Duels. Sorenson, Suarez and Finchum were entered in the first Duel, along with Haley, while Hill and Yeley were entered in the second along with Gaughan.

Among these other five drivers, Hill, Suarez and Yeley had been confirmed as full-time drivers for the 2020 season, meaning that at least one full-time driver wouldn’t even qualify for the race.

With Hill and Yeley in the same 21-car Duel, it would be one or the other. But in Hill’s case, a failure to qualify would mean that the #66 team would have to shut down before really even getting a true chance to compete in what was supposed to be a full-time campaign.

Fortunately for Hill, he had two ways to qualify for the race. (1) Beat both Yeley and Gaughan or (2) have Gaughan beat Yeley.

Beating both Yeley and Gaughan would have locked Hill into the race by racing his way in.

Having Gaughan beat Yeley would have meant that he would get in regardless, as Gaughan had already locked himself in on time. Therefore, if he were to race his way in ahead of both Hill and Yeley, that would leave the door open for either Hill or Yeley to get in on time, and Hill was quicker than Yeley in the single-car qualifying session.

Yeley was involved in a wreck that effectively ended his chance to qualify for the “Great American Race”.

But Hill still took matters into his own hands and left no doubt, driving his way to a 16th place finish ahead of Gaughan in 17th to race his way in. He officially qualified in 32nd place, although he started in 30th due to other drivers serving lineup penalties.

MBM Motorsports’ 2020 season had been saved.

Timmy Hill ultimately failed to finish the Daytona 500 and was scored in 27th place, but he worked his way up from 30th place to 10th in the first 20 laps of the race on Sunday before it was postponed to Monday due to rain. With that race now under their belts, will MBM Motorsports continue on as planned for the entire 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season?

If they do, it will be thanks to a 16th place finish in a 21-car Thursday night race. They are on the entry list for this Sunday afternoon’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.