NASCAR team set for surprise return at Richmond, and with a new driver

MBM Motorsports made their sixth appearance of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, seventh if you include All-Star Weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway back in May, in the series' most recent race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway three Sundays ago.

B.J. McLeod competed for the organization in what was the first true Brickyard 400 since 2020.

The Carl Long-owned team were not initially planning on fielding the No. 66 Ford in this Sunday night's Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, but the car is on the entry list, and with a new driver set to be behind the wheel.

MBM Motorsports returning at Richmond

The team had already confirmed their plans to return for the upcoming regular season race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 24, plus five playoff races.

They plan to compete in the playoff 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.

This coming Sunday's 400-lap race around the four-turn, 0.75-mile (1.207-kilometer) Richmond, Virginia oval was not initially a part of their plans. But now Parker Retzlaff is set to make his Cup Series debut behind the wheel of the No. 66 Ford in the Cook Out 400.

Retzlaff currently competes full-time for Jordan Anderson Racing in the Xfinity Series. He sits in 17th place in the point standings with a top finish of third in the season opener at Daytona.

The 21-year-old Rhinelander, Wisconsin native is set to compete for Beard Motorsports in the upcoming Cup Series race at Daytona, and he was required to make a start in a non-superspeedway race first.

Though Retzlaff has been confirmed for this Sunday evening's race, no drivers have been confirmed by MBM Motorsports for any of the other six races in which they plan to compete this season.

McLeod is among five drivers who have competed for the team this year. That list also includes Timmy Hill, David Starr, Chad Finchum, and Josh Bilicki.

McLeod, who had never competed for MBM Motorsports in the Cup Series and had not made any starts for Long's team since the 2015 Xfinity Series season, is the only one of those five drivers to compete for the team in two points races. He also competed in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

Hill has made two appearances, but one was in the All-Star Open exhibition race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in May. He also competed at Circuit of the Americas in March.

Finchum's start at Nashville Superspeedway in June and Bilicki's start at the Chicago Street Course in July marked the team's first stretch of back-to-back points race appearances since Hill competed in the final two races on the 2021 schedule at Martinsville Speedway and Phoenix Raceway.

USA Network is set to broadcast the Cook Out 400 live from Richmond Raceway beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, August 11. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!