UPDATE: Minutes after this story was posted, DGM Racing announced that Ryan Ellis would join the team in 2025. Ellis will bring a number of his primary sponsors from his effort at APR to the organization in 2025, including Classic Collision, who will serve as a major backer of the effort.
Ryan Ellis, who has driven for Alpha Prime Racing since a part-time stint during the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, will not return to the organization in 2025. According to a source within the organization, who spoke to TobyChristie.com under the condition of anonymity, the team was informed this week by the agency that represents Ellis that the driver would be moving on at the end of the season.
Ellis separately confirmed to TobyChristie.com that he will not return to Alpha Prime Racing in 2025. Moving on from Alpha Prime Racing wasn’t an easy decision, and Ellis will always remain grateful to the team for helping his dreams of being a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver become a reality.
“Being part of Alpha Prime has meant so much to me. They helped me achieve a lifelong dream of racing full-time in NASCAR and I’ve had so much fun working with this group over the last few years,” and emotional Ellis stated. “I feel like I’ve learned so much this year, and I’ll forever be thankful for the opportunity they provided me. Alpha Prime truly became my first “home” in the sport, and everyone there will forever feel like family.”
Ellis will forever be thankful to be a part of the humble beginnings of the Alpha Prime Racing team, and he looks forward to competing against his friends next year.
“Caesar [Bacarella], Tommy [Joe Martins], and the entire group gave me a massive opportunity, and I feel like I’ll never be able to express how grateful I am to have been a small part of the beginning of APR’s story. I wish them nothing but the best going forward and I can’t wait to race against them and their lineup next season,” Ellis said.
The driver is expected to announce his new opportunity for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season as early as Friday afternoon.
Over the last three seasons, the 34-year-old driver has competed in 71 NASCAR Xfinity Series events for the Alpha Prime team, and while he continues to zero in on his first career top-10 NASCAR Xfinity Series finish, the driver has a best finish of 11th, which he’s achieved twice for the team.
Ellis competed in 31 of 33 events during the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, the most races he’d ever competed in a single NASCAR National Series season. After the 31-race campaign in 2023, Ellis announced a full-time campaign with Alpha Prime for the 2024 season, which was the first time the driver had ever run a full-time season in any series in NASCAR.
The driver, who cut his racing teeth in Quarter Midgets in the state of Virginia, sits 22nd in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship standings with four races remaining in the season.
