Parker Retzlaff's podium finish highlights Alpha Prime Racing’s historic finishes in team’s history
Alpha Prime Racing made history at Rockingham Speedway as Parker Retzlaff and Brennan Poole delivered the best combined finish in the team’s tenure in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. While Retzlaff earned a career-best second place, Poole followed closely in fourth, making it the first time Alpha Prime placed two cars in the top five of a single race.
The moment capped off a weekend of progress and pride for the underdog outfit, which entered Xfinity Series in 2022. Despite a rotating driver lineup and limited resources compared to top-tier outfits, the Tommy Joe Martins-owned team has steadily improved. On Saturday (April 19) at the North Carolina Education Lottery 250, the team's breakthrough performance was celebrated on social media.
NASCAR Insights shared the post-race stats on X, about the two Alpha Prime cars in the top five, a feat the team had never accomplished before.
The result came after a reshuffling in the final standings due to Jesse Love's post-race disqualification. Originally finishing third and fifth, Parker Retzlaff and Brennan Poole were moved up to second and fourth, respectively. The #45 part-time entry of Vicente Salas, who started 36th, also moved from 25th to 24th in the final order.
Alpha Prime co-owner Tommy Joe Martins couldn’t hide his excitement after the race. Speaking to Frontstretch post-race, he said:
"I'm just so proud of him (Retzlaff). I mean, you qualify second and you finish third in a race, and then the 44 team is just unbelievable here. They're just so good, Bren's (Brennan) so good. Had about a top 15 car today and then wound up finishing in the top five. It's the first time ever that we've had a double top five in the history of the company, and I'm obviously having a little bit of shock right now." (3:22 onwards)
Poole, in his seventh Xfinity season, has been a reliable veteran presence for the organization. This marked his second top-five finish of the season as he echoed the feelings of the Alpha Prime Racing owner.
"I think it's the best day in the company's history for sure and I'm proud to be a part of it. We've been working really hard and just proud of my guys to bounce back after Bristol and get a top five. It's a strong showing. We just want to keep pushing. I feel confident we can keep having good race cars every single week and put ourselves in position for more runs like this," Poole said via Frontstretch [0:44 onwards]
The team's previous best finish was at Martinsville where Poole's #44 team finished fourth. The 2-4 finish at Rockingham was Alpha Prime Racing's fifth top-five finish in 266 entries in the Xfinity Series.
Parker Retzlaff makes his biggest leap on a historic day for Alpha Prime Racing in Rockingham
The Xfinity race on Saturday was anything but straightforward for Alpha Prime Racing. Parker Retzlaff started from the pole after initial polesitter Connor Zilisch was penalized post-qualifying due to a flat-rear tire. His teammates, Brennan Poole started 28th and Vicente Salas at 36. By the end of Stage 2, all three racers were outside the top-15.
Yet, a chaotic final stage blew the race wide open. Retzlaff, in his third year with the team full-time, called it the 'best race' of his career as he improved on his previous best third place finish at Daytona, 2023.
"I would say it's probably the best race of my career. Just the best overall throughout the whole day. Running up front… I think we were probably top five to top seven all day on speed, no matter what happened. Just kept staying in the fight all day to finish top three," Parker Retzlaff said via Frontstretch (2:21 onwards)
The Rockingham Xfinity return produced 14 cautions, including nine in the final stage. The race went into overtime, where Jesse Love pulled off a bump-and-run on Sammy Smith with two laps to go to take the lead and the checkered flag.
However, Love was later disqualified after his car failed post-race inspection, handing the win back to Smith and moving Parker Retzlaff and Brennan Poole up the order.