NASCAR team aiming for first Daytona 500 start in five years
By Asher Fair
MBM Motorsports returned to the NASCAR Cup Series for 13 races in 2024 after missing the 2023 season entirely, but they did not make their return until the March race at Circuit of the Americas. They did not attempt to qualify for the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
The Carl Long-owned team have not competed in the "Great American Race" since 2020, when they competed in the series on a full-time basis – even without a charter. Timmy Hill qualified for the race and was scored in 27th place after a late DNF.
In 2021, Hill and Garrett Smithley both failed to qualify for the race for MBM Motorsports, and in 2022, teammates Hill and J.J. Yeley were the only two drivers who failed to qualify.
MBM Motorsports aiming for first Daytona 500 in five years
The team have not yet named a driver for February's 67th running of the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval, but they are planning for the No. 66 Ford to be on the entry list. Their goal is to run roughly 20 of the 36 races on the 2025 schedule.
For an open (non-chartered) team to qualify for the Daytona 500, their driver needs to either lock in on speed in the single-car qualifying session or on race result in one of the two Bluegreen Vacations Duel races.
According to Jayski, there could be as many as 10 open cars on the entry list going for the final four spots in the 40-car field; the 36 chartered cars are all locked into the race.
The fastest two of the open cars in the single-car qualifying session lock in, and the top finishers in their respective Duel races do the same. If a driver effectively locks in twice, then the next fastest driver from the single-car session would lock in, since locking in via a Duel race takes precedence.
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Single-car qualifying for the 2025 Daytona 500 is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 12, and the two Bluegreen Vacations Duel races are scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 13 (7:00 p.m. ET on Fox). The 67th annual Daytona 500 itself is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 16 (2:30 p.m. ET on Fox).
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