Parker Retzlaff had a stellar race at Daytona on Saturday, only overshadowed by the driver he pushed on the last lap, Harrison Burton. However, the young driver has found himself at the center of controversy after that last lap.
Parker Retzlaff has journeyed through the NASCAR ranks with relative speed. Working through part-time opportunities with sponsor FUNKAWAY, Retzlaff was an eye-catching name hungry for success.
Despite the part-time starts in the lower series, the team Chevy driver started his full-time career in NASCAR’s secondary series. The Wisconsin native’s first full-time season in NASCAR was last year in the Xfinity Series with Jordan Anderson Racing.
Not only did Retzlaff make it to Xfinity at age 20, but this season, part-time NASCAR Cup Series team Beard Motorsports announced that Retzlaff would race at the summer’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona. Late in the race Saturday night, Retzlaff had survived the big wrecks with just a spot of nose damage coming to the final restart.
At the choose cone, team Chevy driver Kyle Busch lined up on the inside with Harrison Burton’s Ford on the outside of the front row. Toyota’s Christopher Bell, in front of Retzlaff, lined up behind Busch, leaving an unideal situation for the frontmost Chevrolet drivers.
At Superspeedway races like Daytona, your manufacturer matters more than your team. That’s why you see Ford drivers pit together, Toyota drivers lay low in the pack together, or Chevrolet drivers pushing a line together through the pack.
In Retzlaff’s second Cup Series start, he found himself in a tough situation: give yourself a good run or work with full-time Cup Series driver Kyle Busch. Busch needed a win at Daytona for multiple reasons, including locking himself into the playoffs.
On the final lap, Busch was led by a lot, despite Bell pushing him rather than his Chevy teammate, until, on the backstretch, Retzlaff pushed Burton to the front. Coming off the final turn, rather than push Kyle Busch, Retzlaff maintained his spot, with Busch staying in front of Bell rather than moving in front of Parker.
The finish, despite both drivers’ top-tens, has led to reported tension between the young Chevy driver and his manufacturer.
Retzlaff’s relationship with RCR complicates this. Jordan Anderson Racing has a close relationship with RCR as they and Beard Motorsports use ECR engines to power their Camaros. Retzlaff is also a member of Team Dillon Management, which is owned by Childress family members Austin and Ty Dillon.
The Beard Motorsports aspect of this relationship is also a tough conversation, as it sparks the debate of whether smaller teams should allow larger teams of the same manufacturer to perform better. On the final lap, Retzlaff had a chance to finish higher than Busch by not helping him, and while he still finished behind the No. 8, Chevrolet was reportedly upset at Retzlaff for not helping Busch.
In interviews, Retzlaff said it was what he had to do and that he wanted to push the eight. In a post-race conversation with NASCAR Corner, Parker said, “Definitely not what I wanted to do, but I didn’t wanna also not give myself a shot. These guys (Beard Motorsports) work too hard, and I have a shot to win this race.”
This was not Retzlaff’s entirely selfish act. This finish is great publicity for both his sponsor and the small team he raced for. In fact, it was Beard Motorsports’s second top-ten finish this year, something they have only done once before.
While the consequences of his actions are still unknown, if there are any, Retzlaff made the call because he felt he needed to do so for his team and stakeholders rather than for the greater good of a fellow Chevy driver. How that finish would have turned out is known for the teams, the drivers, and Chevrolet.
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