Before late-race shenanigans led to a rash of cautions, which spawned two overtime restart attempts, it appeared that Alpha Prime Racing’s Stefan Parsons was heading toward his first-career NASCAR Xfinity Series top-five finish.
After the first overtime attempt, Parsons was shuffled to eighth, but it looked as though at the very worst he was for sure heading to his second top-10 finish in three starts. Then, on the final overtime attempt of the day, it all came undone for Parsons.
As Parsons was attempting to pass Josh Berry for the eighth position with two laps to go, Landon Cassill made contact with him, which sent the No. 45 car spinning out. As Parsons sat there in the middle of the track, and cars scattered by him left and right, he was left deflated.
After climbing from his car on what should have been a banner day, Parsons was wearing an entire range of emotions on his face. Anger. Sadness. Disbelief. They were all represented.
“We just got used up,” Parsons told TobyChristie.com. “It’s super unfortunate but really proud of everyone at Alpha Prime. Frank, Tommy Joe, Caesar, and everybody who works super hard for this team. Mark Sokal and Sokal, Keffer Volkswagen everybody that makes this happen. It’s unfortunate. It looked like we were going to have a really good day.”
For Parsons, his Alpha Prime Racing team has been firing on all cylinders as of late as he had recorded three top-15 finishes, including his first-career top-10 finish, over his last five starts. It should have been four out of six.
“We’ve been on a really good streak lately and the team has been executing and we’ve been running good. But we just got used up,” Parsons said.
While Cassill, who turned Parsons isn’t known as a driver that intentionally crashes drivers, it didn’t ease the pain of the end result for Parsons. When asked if he had a chance to hash out the incident with two laps to go with Cassill, Parsons had an emphatic answer.
“No,” Parsons stated.
Parsons continued by saying, “If [Cassill] wants to talk to me, he can say something. I’ll remember it.”
Disappointing 25th-place finish aside, it was another strong day for the Alpha Prime Racing team, which is an encouraging sign for Parsons and his budding group. Parsons credits his rapport with his crew chief Frank Kerr and his team being able to build notes around his driving style for the incredible spike in performance.
“We just have a really good team. Frank [and I] get along really well,” Parsons explained. “Everyone on the team does a good job. We’ve been able to build a little bit of a notebook with me running more consistently. I think that’s paid off. This team works super hard and I’m super proud to be a part of it.”
While it is unknown what Parsons has planned for the 2023 season, as he hasn’t announced where he’ll be driving yet, what is known is that the 24-year-old son of former NASCAR Cup Series winner Phil Parsons is really starting to showcase some incredible talent behind the wheel. Whether that results in a return to Alpha Prime Racing, or if it results in him moving to another team next season, one thing seems certain: He will be rewarded for his efforts in the back half of the 2022 season.
