NASCAR: One notable omission from the Daytona entry list

MBM Motorsports, which have competed in seven races so far during the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season after missing the 2023 season entirely, had initially planned on competing in this Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

However, the No. 66 Ford is not on the entry list for this 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval, the penultimate race on the 26-race regular season calendar.

Had the No. 66 Ford been on the entry list as planned, there would have been five non-charter cars vying for only four open spots in the 40-car field, meaning that one of those cars would have failed to qualify.

MBM Motorsports not on Daytona entry list

Not since the season-opening Daytona 500, when there were six, has an entry list consisted of more than four cars without charters and therefore somebody failed to qualify.

This marks MBM Motorsports' second unexpected absence of the season. They had also planned on competing in the June race at Iowa Speedway, and the No. 66 Ford actually did make it onto the entry list for that event. David Starr was set to drive it. However, a late decision was made to withdraw the car.

The team did recently make an unplanned appearance at Richmond Raceway, when Parker Retzlaff made his Cup Series debut behind the wheel of the No. 66 Ford.

Retzlaff is set to compete for Beard Motorsports in this Saturday night's race, and NASCAR wanted him to compete in a non-superspeedway race before competing in a superspeedway race.

Including Retzlaff, six drivers have spent time behind the wheel of the No. 66 Ford this year. The others include Starr, B.J. McLeod, Timmy Hill, Chad Finchum, and Josh Bilicki. McLeod is the only one of those six drivers with multiple starts in ponits races for the team in 2024.

MBM Motorsports currently have plans to compete in five playoff races, but they have not announced drivers for any of them. They plan to return for 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.

Daytona International Speedway is scheduled to host the Coke Zero Sugar 400 beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET this Saturday, August 24, and live coverage is set to be provided by NBC. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series regular season's penultimate race!