XFINITY: Flat tire, brake issues, and a crash derail Parker Retzlaff’s run at Talladega

by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

ALL PHOTOS: Brock Beard

Parker Retzlaff picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 at the Talladega Superspeedway when his #4 KeenParts.com Chevrolet was involved in a multi-car accident after 52 of 113 laps.

The finish, which came in Retzlaff’s 85th series start, was his first of the season and first in a XFINITY Series race since June 10, 2023 at Sears Point (Sonoma), 63 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 22nd for the #4, the 410th from a crash, and the 661st for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 75th for the #4, the 1,415th from a crash, and the 1,985th for Chevrolet.

After two full-time seasons with Jordan Anderson Racing, Retzlaff now embarks on a new effort with Alpha Prime Racing. In place of the team’s #43, he campaigns the #4, a number made available after JD Motorsports shut down last season. Through these first ten races of the 2025 campaign, he’s scored an 11th at Phoenix, a 12th at Martinsville, and a 9th-place qualifying effort at Bristol. But it was in NASCAR’s return to Rockingham last week that Retzlaff truly impressed, as he had in his first few races with RSS Racing. On the demanding oval, he qualified 2nd, then after finishing 3rd ultimately came home 2nd after Jesse Love’s disqualification.

For Talladega, Retzlaff welcomed returning backing from longtime Keen Parts and CorvetteParts.net, which have backed several small teams over the years, most notably the #32 Go FAS Racing team. Also sponsoring the new paint scheme was team backer VisualPak, who had at least two sponsor representatives on hand at the track. With no practice for the XFINITY Series, Retzlaff’s first two laps were in qualifying, where he clocked in with a speed of 53.411 seconds (179.289mph). This ranked him just 33rd on the starting lineup, highest ranked among those relying on Owner Points.


QUALIFYING

That entry list showed 41 drivers attempting the 38-car field. Among these was Mason Maggio, who locked in Carl Long’s #66 Denssi Energy Pouches Toyota by besting Retzlaff’s speed by just one-thousandth of a second, clocking in at 53.410 seconds (179.292mph). While Maggio made the show, the three DNQs were Garrett Smithley whose timed lap was marred by a flat tire on his white #14 Over The Wall / Knight Fire Protection Chevrolet, Austin Green in the #87 Overplay Chevrolet, and Jake Garcia, who was unable to make his series debut in RSS Racing’s #29 Quanta Ford.

Two of the biggest surprises in qualifying were Joey Gase and Ryan Ellis, who each earned positions in the Top Ten. Gase was just the fifth driver on track, led the session early, only dropped to 3rd in the closing stages, then ultimately took 4th with a lap of 52.938 seconds (180.891mph). This was Gase’s career-best qualifying run in his 294th series start, blowing away his previous mark of 14th at Las Vegas on February 23, 2020. Gase accomplished this in a chassis built in 2010 that he bought from RSS Racing about five years ago, and was also run in Daytona this past February. Not far behind was Ryan Ellis, whose #71 Classic Collision Chevrolet was parked at the farthest end of the staging area before qualifying. Ellis secured 9th on the grid – his own career-best – improving on his previous mark of 16th at Loudon last June. Ellis wasn’t sure of his lap at the time, remarking that a fast lap and a slow lap at Talladega feel about the same, but was surprised to see his time ranked ahead of cars fielded by the Haas Factory Team and Joe Gibbs Racing.

Joey Gase’s team after a strong 4th-place qualifying run on Friday.


RACE DAY

Caesar Bacarella and team from the 38th spot on the grid.

On race day, three teams incurred tail-end penalties, including both of Retzlaff’s teammates at Alpha Prime Racing. The duo of Brennan Poole in the #44 Clarks’ / CW & Sons Chevrolet and Caesar Bacarella in the #45 Simcraft Chevrolet were already set to start side-by-side in the final row after sluggish laps in qualifying. Also docked was 19th-place Anthony Alfredo, who had an unproved adjustments penalty of his own on the #42 Dude Wipes Chevrolet.

When the green flag dropped, Poole and Bacarella remained in the final row, Poole to Bacarella’s inside. At the end of Lap 1, both were trailing the field in their own three-car draft, Alfredo’s penalized car lined up between 36th-place Poole and 38th-place Bacarella. Ahead of this trio, another three-car draft formed as Greg Van Alst’s #35 CB Fabricating Chevrolet led the way in 33rd ahead of Maggio’s #66 and a returning Jesse Iwuji in the #91 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet. On Lap 5, Bacarella dropped to last, and that trio was now catching the one in front.

Then on Lap 6, just as Poole and Bacarella raced side-by-side for position, Retzlaff ducked onto pit road with a flat left-rear tire. The tire’s carcass had wrapped around the shock, forcing the team to cut it away in a process that dropped him multiple laps down. Retzlaff returned to the track on Lap 9, but now had brake issues stemming from the blown tire, forcing him to pump his pedal around the track. Around this time, the car’s engine note also sounded off as he rolled by himself through the tri-oval. Retzlaff pitted a second time on Lap 12, barely able to stop in his stall, and returned to the track along with a pitting Alfredo, who had a loose left-front wheel. On Lap 19, Retzlaff was now three laps down in last place, and moved to the high lane as the trailing lead-lap cars moved to the low lane. He was now hanging on to the end of Stage 1, where Alfredo would beat him for the Lucky Dog on the Lap 25 yellow.

Further repairs to the left-rear of Retzlaff’s car as the brake issue was addressed.

It was during this caution that Retzlaff pulled behind the wall at the first garage entrance on pit road, an open space next to one of the big screens and a tractor trailer promoting the film “Talladega Nights.” There, the team put Retzlaff’s car on jack stands and repaired the brake system. Four crew members scrambled to the team’s hauler, and a handful of zip-ties were brought to the car as work continued. The team also applied tape patches beneath the c-pillar on the driver’s side, and to the panel beneath the left-rear quarter-panel, both damaged from the flat tire. On Lap 48, the team completed its work, and Retzlaff drove into the adjoining space near the entrance to the XFINITY Series garage. He then made a right turn and drove quickly back onto pit road, just moments before the caution that ended Stage 2.

When the Stage 2 ending caution came out on Lap 52, Retzlaff was the only driver off the lead lap, but NASCAR didn’t award it to anyone in the field, so Retzlaff remained 26 laps down. For the Lap 56 restart, he lagged back by open track, then was quickly caught by Alfredo, who had a running start as he’d just come off pit road. By the following lap, Alfredo had flown up to 28th. Meanwhile, another car was now sitting on pit road. Caesar Bacarella pulled his #45 onto pit road just before the restart, and lost five laps before he returned to the track. Bacarella returned to the track, where the team apologized for the issue, saying “it’s 100% on us.”

Now stranded on track, the now 37th-place Bacarella was told by his team to run the high lane as the leaders closed to within a few seconds of him. They made up the deficit on Lap 69, just as Jesse Love’s #2 WAT Chevrolet led a group of the leaders onto pit road under green. This sequence of stops continued over the next several laps, moving Jeremy Clements’ #51 One Stop / All South Electric Chevrolet to the lead on Lap 74, then Katherine Legge’s #32 e.l.f. Cosmetics Chevrolet on Lap 75, when William Sawalich’s #18 Soundgear Toyota dropped off the pace with a blown engine (and was declared out on Lap 91). Greg Van Alst’s #35 then took the lead on Lap 76 and paced two laps before Brandon Jones took the top spot in his #20 Menards / Lyons Toyota.

Ryan Sieg rolls into the garage with heavy damage after the Turn 1 wreck.

Jones was still leading – and Sawalich had barely arrived in his garage stall - when trouble broke out in Turn 1. Running just outside the Top Ten, Sammy Smith’s #8 Pilot Chevrolet appeared to cross the nose of Jeb Burton’s #27 Golden Corral Chevrolet, sending Smith spinning directly into Van Alst and sending both into the outside wall. Behind, contact from Blaine Perkins’ #31 Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet sent Ryan Sieg’s #39 Sci Aps Ford spinning to the apron, where his splitter dug into the grass and destroyed the nose of his car. Sieg had himself qualified a distant 35th and clawed his way into the Top Five early before another spell of bad luck.

The damage to Retzlaff’s left-front after the collision with Sieg.

Practically missed by the highlights of Saturday’s race was Retzlaff’s involvement in the accident, where he came back to the garage with the left-front fender ripped away, and a piece of metal tubing sticking from his radiator. Only one replay showed Sieg’s wrecking car slide up the track and clip Retzlaff’s car as it passed. Retzlaff’s car was towed to the garage on Lap 81, shortly after Sieg drove behind the wall on Lap 79, revving his engine as he made the left turn. As Sieg’s team cut away the bodywork from the #39, Van Alst’s damaged car drove by on its way to the team hauler, his “Crash Clock” apparently expired. Both dropped down the rankings along with Sawalich, who by then was five laps down. But since Retzlaff had already lost 26 laps from his earlier issues, he remained in the 38th spot. Sawalich, Sieg, and Van Alst took the next three spots in the Bottom Five.

Debris in Retzlaff’s grille

Completing the Bottom Five was Katherine Legge, who was swept up in a multi-car accident after Aric Almirola crossed her nose heading down the backstretch. The resulting pileup sent her #32 into the inside wall and out of the race on Lap 101.

Joey Gase and Ryan Ellis, who each impressed in qualifying, went on to finish 21st and 16th, respectively.


DIBENEDETTO AND ALFREDO IMPRESS AT TALLADEGA

Matt DiBenedetto (#99) in 3rd place late in Saturday’s race.

Two underdogs threatened to challenge for the win just before the caution flag fell, each within striking distance of the lead:

Matt DiBenedetto debuted an aggressive new paint scheme on Viking Motorsports’ #99 Chevrolet, and with it charged up the inside line, reaching as high as 3rd place en route to a 5th-place finish. This marks the first top-five finish for the Viking team since it separated from RSS Racing this year. It’s also DiBenedetto’s first top-five finish in his 108th series start – a career that began with Joe Gibbs Racing, then endured through several years as a “start-and-park” driver for multiple teams.

Anthony Alfredo, who incurred a pre-race penalty, then had to get a running start on the field after an unscheduled stop, recovered to finish a strong 6th and also led Lap 53. The finish is Alfredo’s first top-ten run of the year, and continues a series of strong runs at Talladega, both in XFINITY and Cup. He’s now scored top-ten finishes in half of his eight XFINITY starts at the track, and going into today’s Cup race has scored Top Tens in half his four previous Cup starts.


LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #4 in a XFINITY Series race since February 18, 2023, when Bayley Currey lost the engine after 8 laps of the season opener at Daytona. The number had never before finished last in a XFINITY Series race at Talladega.


THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #4-Parker Retzlaff / 52 laps / crash

37) #18-William Sawalich / 75 laps / engine

36) #39-Ryan Sieg / 78 laps / crash

35) #35-Greg Van Alst / 80 laps / crash / led 2 laps

34) #32-Katherine Legge / 100 laps / crash / led 1 lap


2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Joe Gibbs Racing (3)

2nd) Kaulig Racing (2)

3rd) Alpha Prime Racing, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, Our Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Young’s Motorsports (1)


2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Chevrolet (7)

2nd) Toyota (4)


2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP

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INTERVIEW: Steve Phelps comments on the controversial finish to Saturday’s XFINITY Series race at Talladega