NASCAR team withdraws from Bristol All-Star Race

MBM Motorsports and Timmy Hill will not compete in the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Open to attempt to qualify for the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

There will now be just 21 drivers competing in the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Open to attempt to secure one of three positions which are still open in the starting lineup for the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway this evening.

Timmy Hill, MBM Motorsports’ full-time driver, was initially slated to start this 85-lap race around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked oval in Bristol, Tennessee in 17th place in his #66 Toyota following Monday’s random draw.

Because the #66 team are not a chartered team despite the fact that they are a full-time team which have competed in each of the 17 points-paying races that have been contested so far this season, MBM Motorsports are not required to compete in this race. They have opted not to do so.

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“With recent crashes at Pocono and Kentucky, we have too much work for our shop guys to go and gamble on wrecking a car that we will need at New Hamphshire,” said team owner Carl Long in a statement. “We are all disappointed, but it is strictly a business decision that we had to make.”

Hill, who burst onto the Cup Series scene this season by dominating the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series during the 10-week break caused by the coronavirus pandemic, shared the same sentiment and thanked the fans who voted for him in the NASCAR Fan Vote, which will serve as the determining factor in who gets the fourth and final remaining open spot in the 20-driver main event.

“I would like to thank all of the fans who have voted for us and put us in the top 10 in fan votes,” stated the 27-year-old Port Tobacco, Maryland native. “Of course I am disappointed, but I know that this is the right decision to keep us on track for the balance of the 2020 schedule.”

Hill’s best finish this season is 19th place, so the #66 Toyota likely wouldn’t have had much of a shot to win any of the All-Star Open’s three stages to advance into the 140-lap All-Star Race with a chance to win $1 million. With that being said, this respectable 19th place finish did come at Bristol Motor Speedway back in late May.

Hill is set to compete at the Cup level next in this Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, which is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET.

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Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 7:00 p.m. ET this evening for the live broadcast of the All-Star Open from Bristol Motor Speedway, and stay tuned in for the live broadcast of the All-Star Race itself beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET.

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