JGR driver pins the blame on Kyle Busch’s teammate for ruining his Rockingham race
JGR driver Taylor Gray blamed Kyle Busch's Chevrolet teammate Parker Retzlaff for ruining a potentially better outcome at the Rockingham Speedway. The #54 Toyota driver was in contention to post a podium finish, if not the win, but the final restart proved disastrous for his pursuit.
The chaotic North Carolina Education Lottery 250 stole the limelight for plenty of reasons; it's return to NASCAR after over a decade, 14 cautions for 83 laps, Jesse Love's triumph getting transferred to Sammy Smith after the former failed post-race inspection, and more.
Gray started the race from 15th and initially didn't show signs of posting a promising finish. But he surged the ranks, claiming one point in the second Stage and moving to fourth by Lap 166 of 256. Moving forward, the JGR driver began the final overtime restart from second, with Kyle Busch's teammate Parker Retzlaff behind his #54 Toyota.
The cars dashed for the checkered flag. Jesse Love started behind Sammy Smith but moved through the inside, forcing the latter up the track. Meanwhile, Retzlaff drafted behind Gray's machine, "jacking his rear tires up off the ground." Furthermore, as Smith slid, Gray got sandwiched between the former and Retzlaff's #4 Chevy, losing multiple track positions and finishing sixth in the aftermath.
Gray was unhappy with how Retzlaff raced him and didn't hold back his criticism.
"I feel like we had a really good Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra. I just needed the 4 (Parker Retzlaff) to not try to restart for me. I don't know what he was doing. He just got me off sequence, jacked up the rear tires up off the ground and caused me to get a bad launch," Gray said, via Speedway Digest.
Love's penalty moved Gray to fifth place, making it the New Mexico native's second top-5 this season.
When Parker Retzlaff faced backlash for not helping Kyle Busch at the 2024 Daytona race
Parker Retzlaff drove part-time for Beard Motorsports last season and participated in the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the Daytona International Speedway. The event was the second-to-last regular season race, and Kyle Busch desperately needed a win to punch his playoff ticket.
The #8 Chevy driver was close to materializing it. However, things played out differently on the final restart. Retzlaff, who aimed to push Harrison Burton and slip at the final moment to take the win, couldn't do so, but in the process, gave Burton the final push needed to grab the victory.
Retzlaff wasn't a full-time driver, and his help could've massively benefited Kyle Busch. Thus, he faced criticism for not helping the Chevrolet teammate.
"I didn’t want to push a Ford to the win necessarily but FunkAway has supported me for the last two years in NASCAR and it was their first Cup race and I wanted to do whatever in my power to give them a good result and put my name on the map. The end of the race is not how I wanted it to work, pushing a Ford, but I also didn’t want to give away a result for FunkAway and how they’ve supported me," Retzlaff said after the race.
Busch said that he didn't expect Retzlaff's help because he wasn't a part of Chevy's primary driver meetings, and thus, the latter doesn't owe him an apology.