It all started with what seemed like a harmless post on X where the team asked fans if they should return to NASCAR Cup Series competition at Richmond Raceway for the first time since 2019. Monday ended with the No. 66 MBM Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse not only being on the entry list for Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond but also featuring Parker Retzlaff as the driver.
For the 21-year-old Retzlaff, this will mark his NASCAR Cup Series debut and it will surprisingly come with Carl Long’s race team this weekend. Retzlaff was already previously announced to be making his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Daytona International Speedway for Beard Motorsports later this month.
That race will now serve as Retzlaff’s second career NASCAR Cup Series start.
MBM Motorsports confirmed to TobyChristie.com that Retlzaff was required by NASCAR to have a NASCAR Cup Series race under his belt at a non-superspeedway before being thrown to the wolves at Daytona. Long’s team, although not Chevrolet, provided Retzlaff an opportunity to get a start under his belt to allow him to potentially run for Beard Motorsports at Daytona.
Retzlaff is a full-time competitor in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport, where he pilots the No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro.
The Wisconsin native opened the 2024 season with a pair of top-five finishes in the opening two races of the year. Retzlaff finished second in the season-opening event at Daytona and fifth the following week at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Retzlaff has four top-10 finishes and his first career pole, which he scored at Richmond Raceway, to go along with the two top-five finishes this year. In his rookie campaign a season ago, Retzlaff scored one top-five finish, and seven top-10s for the Anderson team on his way to a 16th-place finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship standings.
