David Starr will no longer be racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ season opener later on Saturday, Feb. 17.
Starr’s qualifying lap was disallowed after his No. 66 MBM Motorsports Ford failed post-qualifying inspection at Daytona International Speedway. Starr originally qualified in 29th for the United Rentals 300 with a speed of 178.628 mph.
MBM said on X that it failed for exceeding the maximum track bar level.
“We passed pre-qualifying tech this morning with the track bar level as required by the rulebook,” MBM said. “Somehow in the normal qualifying adjustments, we exceeded the maximum three inches of split allowed for the track bar.
“This was an honest mistake. We are not making excuses, but to paint the picture for you all, our entire crew was working today on one hour of sleep after our last-lap crash while running in the top five of the ARCA [Menards Series] race last night.”
Daytona was the only scheduled start for Starr with the No. 66 team, but MBM said Starr will now race at Talladega Superspeedway as a “makeup race” and that the team will race in a limited capacity the rest of the season.
“MBM has experienced extreme highs and lows during this Speedweeks,” MBM said. “We demonstrated in the last several days what we can accomplish with the proper funding. We will be running a limited schedule for the remainder of the season, competing only when we have the funds to run at the highest level.”
With Starr’s disqualification, Dawson Cram inherits his first career start at Daytona, driving the JD Motorsports No. 4 Chevrolet. Cram had previously failed to qualify for the event, but was given a provisional following Starr’s DNQ. This will be Cram’s first start with the team.
“I was excited, man.” Cram told Frontstretch. “This is a big opportunity for me. You hate to go home from the first one, missing it, but there’s always next week.
“Luckily, we made it in. The good Lord put us in the race, somehow, someway, but we’re excited for tonight.”
Cram will join the rest of the Xfinity field later on Saturday afternoon for the green flag at 4:30 p.m. ET. Coverage will be provided by FOX Sports 1.
About the author
Wyatt Watson has followed NASCAR closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretchas a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt writes breaking NASCAR news and contributes to columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monster. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media and serves as an at-track reporter, collecting exclusive content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on Twitter @WyattGametime
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