NASCAR Cup Series team set for unexpected Southern 500 appearance

MBM Motorsports have made seven starts so far in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season after not competing in the series at all in 2023, though they have made some changes to their initial plans for the year along the way.

Such changes include a withdrawal from the June race at Iowa Speedway and a surprise appearance in the August race at Richmond Raceway, primarily due to NASCAR requiring Parker Retzlaff to compete in a non-superspeedway race before competing for Beard Motorsports at Daytona International Speedway this past Saturday night.

MBM Motorsports were initially planning on competing in this past Saturday night's race at Daytona as well, but the No. 66 Ford was not on the entry list, which may have been a blessing in disguise since that would have meant five non-charter cars going for four spots, thus ensuring one car would have ended up with a DNQ.

The Carl Long-owned team did not initially have plans to compete in this coming Sunday night's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, but now they are slated to make their first start since the Richmond race three weekends ago in this 367-lap race around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) egg-shaped Darlington, South Carolina oval.

MBM Motorsports to return at Darlington

Timmy Hill is set to make his second start of the 2024 season, third if you include the non-points All-Star Open exhibition race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in May, behind the wheel of the No. 66 Ford. He also competed at Circuit of the Americas in March.

Hill is one of six drivers who have competed in a points race for MBM Motorsports this season. The others are Retzlaff, David Starr, B.J. McLeod, Chad Finchum, and Josh Bilicki. McLeod is the only one of those drivers who has made two starts for the team in 2024.

Though the 2024 season has demonstrated that MBM Motorsports' plans are always subject to change, they are currently lined up to compete in five playoff races.

The team's playoff plans include the races at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 21; Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 29; the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Sunday, October 13; Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, October 20; and Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 10.

No drivers have been confirmed by the team for any of those races.

USA Network is set to provide live coverage of the Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, September 1. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss the final race on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series regular season schedule!