“I didn’t think I was going to drive again.”
Brennan Poole felt like his dream of racing was on death’s doorstep in 2020.
“After my full Cup season and COVID, you know, that was difficult for everybody. Lost some partnerships through that and ended up losing probably what was one of my biggest opportunities I had in my career going into 2021.”
The Woodlands, TX native ran 35 races that year in the No. 15 machine. Ending the year with an average finish of 29th and nine DNFs. A tough blow after having had his time at the former Chip Ganassi Racing end in 2017.
2021 looked bleak, but one start with the now defunct OnPoint Motorsports seemed to help right the ship.
“I got to race one time. That year for the 30 truck, because I had done a lot of stuff with On Point Motorsports and Bones, and all of them helped me before. Even that, kind of get back going again after my stuff with Ganassi.”
His only start in 2021 came at Texas where he came home 14th. Brennan managed to parlay that into some part-time racing with G2G Racing in Trucks, but also dipping back into the NASCAR Xfinity Series with long-time team owner Mike Harmon for part of 2022.
“I’ve just had a lot of people come into my life, like just at the right time to help me get to where I needed to be…I had a lot of fun working with Mike. It was really hard.”
While he continued to face adversity, missing races and DNQs, his work behind the wheel of the No. 47 grew into something more.
“That led to me getting an opportunity with Johnny Davis. We worked out a deal where I could run a few races at the end of 2022….We went to Miami and we literally ran in the top 15 all day, and we were running 12 and lost the race and had a bad green flag stop and finished 14th, and I was like, ‘Man, this was awesome.’ It’s a lot of fun.”
That run breathed new life into him for 2023.
Brennan Poole Tapped for Full-Time Drive with JD Motorsports in 2023
“That led to me getting the full-time ride with Johnny. We had a difficult year, but we had a lot of fun still too. We had a lot of great results, even though it was an up-and-down year. You know, we were just racing with those guys. Just like real racers that are doing it the old-school hard way. It brought a little bit more perspective to where I had been and, where I was, you know, the last couple of years…I’d like to touch on that I ran those seven Cup races last year for Rick, too. A couple of years ago, you know, before that, there’s no way I would have never thought that I would have had the opportunity to race. and cup again, you know, that quick and, that was a lot of fun too. So I’m thankful for Rick and, you know, for everybody over there for giving me those opportunities.”
2023 had 31 Xfinity races with a top five at Talladega. His first in the series since 2017, over six years prior. The year also brought new opportunities as in November it was announced that he would be joining forces with Alpha Prime Racing for the 2024 campaign.
Brennan Poole to Pilot No. 44 Alpha Prime Entry Full-Time in 2024 Xfinity Series
“Tommy Joe, we were always parked next to each other, last year. And so we just started talking, and, there was an opportunity and, yeah, it led to me being here full-time.”
Poole says his time with the team so far this year has been good and it feels like family.
“I feel like we’ve just got such a good group of guys and, you know, in order to have success, it’s all about the people around you. And, this team is just… man, they’re just, It’s an unbelievable, unbelievable group of guys. And everyone’s just, like, real racers, and they care….I feel like I’ve worked with top teams, I’ve worked with bottom teams, I’ve worked with teams in the middle, and I think learning all that stuff that I went through has just made me a better racecar driver.”
16 of the 33 races have been ran in 2024 for the Xfinity Series. Brennan sits 16th in points, 122 back of a playoff spot. He holds one top-five run, a second place at Talladega, with an average finish of 19.3.
“We just have to keep putting pressure on those guys and keep stacking points and keep finishing races like we have to finish. We still got quite a bit of races left to run.”
You can view our interview with Poole, here or on the TobyChristie.com YouTube Channel.
