How things can change in a matter of just seven days…
After failing to qualify for last weekend’s Focused Health 250 at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), Parker Retzlaff and Alpha Prime Racing have returned to the racetrack with a vengeance, securing a season-best 11th at Phoenix.
The result, although one spot short of a top-10, is much-needed for Retzlaff and the No. 4 team, after a difficult start to the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign has relegated the team deep in series point standings.
It hasn’t been for a lack of speed, though, that’s for sure.
“Last year, I think I showed a lot of speed just couldn’t finish races, so this year, we’re just trying to take it one step at a time, and we still have the speed we just need to finish races and put ourselves in good spots,” said Retzlaff.
At Atlanta Motor Speedway, Retzlaff was in the fight for his first career victory when his No. 4 Visual Pak Chevrolet got turned around on the last lap, leaving the Rhinelander, Wisconsin native to finish a disappointing 27th.
Even dating back to the pre-season organizational test at Rockingham Speedway in January, Alpha Prime showed some impressive speed with their short track program.
That short-track speed made Saturday’s GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway, the one-mile oval in Avondale, Arizona, a smashing success for the 21-year-old driver.
After being inside the top five on the single-lap speed charts in practice, Retzlaff qualified 26th, but, when the green flag dropped, he didn’t stay there for very long.
The Visual Pak Chevrolet had driven as high as 11th in the opening 40 laps of the race, before suffering what the team later diagnosed as fuel pressure issues, dropping him to 20th.
“We had a little fuel problem in the first stage and drove from 26th to, I think we were 12th, and we had a little issue,” Retzlaff said. “And we all sat there and talked about what we thought the best idea was and just filled it full of fuel and we kind of looked at it and fixed the issue.”
For Retzlaff, a long stay on pit road seemed to cure those issues, allowing the driver to head back on the racetrack and fight to regain all of that lost track position — which he managed to do pretty quickly.
As the race wound down, Retzlaff and Alpha Prime Racing were punching well above their weight in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, fighting against powerhouse organizations like JR Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, and Haas Factory Team for spots inside the top-15.
RACE RESULTS: GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway
In the chaos of NASCAR Overtime, Retzlaff was able to gain himself two positions, driving from 13th to 11th, and nearly taking over a spot inside the top-10 from Nick Sanchez — in what would have been his first top-10 since last May at Dover Motor Speedway.
While the result was a stellar one, and the best for Alpha Prime Racing on a non-superspeedway since Michigan last Summer, it didn’t do a ton for Retzlaff in terms of points position, only jumping from 37th to 30th.
The one thing a run like this does do, for Retzlaff and the entire Alpha Prime team, is instill confidence for future events, with both Retzlaff and Brennan Poole finishing inside the top-20.
As the series moves ahead to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Retzlaff will continue to try and lay down some solid results in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, as the team looks to climb up the point standings.
One clear thing, after the raw pace that Retzlaff showed throughout Saturday’s 200-lap contest, is that top-10 results are not out of the question for Alpha Prime Racing this year.
