NASCAR: Why one team made a driver change for Charlotte
By Asher Fair
MBM Motorsports plan to field the #66 Toyota in this Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but not for Timmy Hill.
Since the whole Timmy Hill/iRacing debacle, MBM Motorsports have only fielded the #66 car in two NASCAR Cup Series events, and only one of those events saw Hill behind the wheel.
Hill, who had been entered into every Cup Series race since the 2019 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway before that debacle happened six races into the 2021 season, has only competed in the race at Talladega Superspeedway over the course of the last two months.
Must Read. Dale Earnhardt Jr. still annoys Martin Truex Jr.. light
The #66 Toyota is set to be run in this Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, marking just its second appearance in the last eight races, but Hill will not be driving it despite the fact that he was originally slated to be back in the Cup Series for the first time since he competed in late April.
Instead, David Starr is set to compete in his first race of the year.
More from NASCAR Cup Series
- NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
- NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
- NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
- NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
- NASCAR team adds third car, names driver for 2024 Daytona 500
Starr, whose 2021 NASCAR season got quite interesting at Homestead-Miami Speedway back in late February due to his run-in with Noah Gragson, has not competed in a Cup Series race since last June when he drove for Rick Ware Racing at Martinsville Speedway.
“This weekend, Timmy was supposed to be back in the car at Charlotte,” MBM Motorsports team owner Carl Long told Beyond the Flag. “But I pulled David out of the car last weekend at COTA in the Xfinity race and put Boris Said in it because it was a road course, and I did need somebody who is very talented to help get our car in. So we put Boris in it, and I’m putting David in the Cup car this weekend at Charlotte instead of Timmy to kind of make up for him pulling out of the car at COTA.”
Long noted the role that sponsorship played in this decision.
“David actually has some sponsorship that follows him that we can put on the car, and we just haven’t been able to secure nothing for Timmy,” he said. “It’s all about what names are on the quarter panels, and if you can have a driver who has people that are behind him and are willing to sponsor him, you can do a lot of stuff with that.”
Next. Top 25 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark
Tune in to Fox at 6:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, May 30 for the live broadcast of the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway.