There was drama aplenty in the NASCAR Xfinity Series garage area following Saturday’s qualifying session for the season-opening United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway.
David Starr, and the No. 66 MBM Motorsports team, which was a late-stage pairing that came together a couple of weeks ago, had incredibly clocked their way into the field for the biggest Xfinity Series race of the season as the No. 66 machine was slotted 29th in the final qualifying results.
RELATED: NASCAR Xfinity Series United Rentals 300 Qualifying Results
However, after the session, the No. 66 car was flagged in post-qualifying inspection and went through a thorough inspection. After NASCAR combed over the car for roughly an hour, the No. 66 team was officially disqualified.
While NASCAR didn’t publicly disclose the reason for the disqualification, and MBM Motorsports team owner Carl Long declined an interview with TobyChristie.com to talk about the situation, a member of the team disclosed that the DQ centered around an issue with the trackbar on the No. 66 car.
Long says MBM Motorsports will put out a press release on the matter in the next day or two.
Starr being bounced from the field meant that Dawson Cram, and the No. 4 JD Motorsports team, which initially failed to make the show on speed, were now in the field by way of an owner points provisional.
While a sad situation turned jovial, Cram still had apprehension about how he gained his spot in the field, as it came at the expense of a team owner and driver who have been his allies throughout his young career.
Dawson Cram says this isn’t how he wanted to lock in the field, but with the 66 being DQed, he’s in the show. pic.twitter.com/oO7jef2zBX
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) February 17, 2024
“It’s not the way we wanted to do it,” Cram admitted. “I really hate it for Carl Long and his guys. You know David [Starr] has always been super helpful to me, and helped me in the past. Always been there to give me advice. And Carl has given me opportunities. I was telling these guys, as we were standing around, I was like, ‘I would never wish that upon anybody.’ Because they did their job and brought a fast car. They came here, and something went wrong, and they got thrown out.”
Cram continued his praise of Long, the owner of MBM Motorsports by saying, “Carl, he gave me my first truck to run my first truck race. I hate it for him.”
At the conclusion of the qualifying session, the 22-year-old driver was visibly emotional about being bumped from the field as he stood red-faced in the NASCAR Xfinity Series garage. Then, commotion started generating from the tech bay, and it appeared there was still hope for Cram to make the race.
After a long wait, what looked like a horrible day for the driver and his No. 4 team, somehow, someway, reversed course.
“The good lord somehow put us in the race,” Cram said with a smile. “I got on my knees and prayed before we went out there, and I said, ‘If it’s meant to be, it’ll be. He made it happen.”
Cram says having an owner points provisional to make it into the field was a new dynamic for him, as he usually is a go-or-go-homer, regardless of where he qualifies.
“I’m excited to be in because usually based on the rides I’m usually in, I’d be out no matter what if we didn’t go fast enough. Seeing our car number a little bit low on the board, I started to get a little bit nervous when I got in. We talked it out, and we were all ready to go back to Gaffney, South Carolina and build a hot rod to go to Atlanta, no matter what happened. Because we’re a team.”
Now, Cram and the No. 4 JD Motorsports team will look to make the most out of this second chance to race in the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway.
