Retzlaff is officially done at Alpha Prime Racing, as co-owner Caesar Bacarella confirmed with motorsport journalist RJ Starcevic. With such a promising young driver available on the market, who at a  team that hasn’t won a race ever? Almost won in Rockingham’s return; it’s a big deal.

Haas Factory Team

There are rumors that Kaulig will sell off its Xfinity team after 1 of the worst seasons in the team’s history and as they switch from Chevy to Dodge. If they do, it does leave open the door for Haas to buy up 1 or 2 of their own charters and move into Kaulig’s spot in the Chevy Xfinity ladder if they haven’t already. If they do, Retzlaff is one of the best choices to pick.

He started his career with JAR and APR 2 midpack teams on the up and up in Xfinity largely because of Parker Retzlaff’s talent and dedication. Nearly winning at races at the likes of Atlanta and Rockingham while earning top 10s at driver tracks like Portland and Martinsville, plus the Cup Series top 10 he earned at Daytona.

Not to mention it’d continue his Chevy connection while getting him out of RCR’s shadow because Haas will be aligned with Hendrick and not Childress. Richard Childress was pretty mad at him for helping Burton and not Rowdy on the last lap. Because how dare a young driver in his 2nd Cup start going for the win?

AM Racing

While they haven’t won yet, AM Racing is another real up-and-comer. Making the playoffs for the 1st time ever with Harrison Burton and even showing early speed when they started with Brett Moffitt, having 9 top tens in AM’s first ever season. Improving to 10 this year with Burton. But of course, that’s skipping over 2024, the infamous Deegan year. Where she couldn’t even earn a top 10 with AM Racing. If AM wants to avoid becoming the next Our Motorsports. Which shut down this year.

As they had cycles of hiring talented drivers, then paying drivers, then talented drivers again, and then paying drivers again. Until Kris Wright’s struggles killed the team. So Retzlaff would ensure they won’t fall into the same cycle. Not to mention Retzlaff has links to Ford being on RFK’s NASCAR team and debuting with RSS Racing in Xfinity.

Joe Gibbs Racing

The JGR Xfinity team, once a dominant force, has hit a weird and small road bump. After Ty Gibbs’ dominance in 2022, none of their full-time drivers have been nearly as dominant, while the likes of Gray, Chandler Smith, and Brandon Jones have been competitive, and 2 of the 3 have won multiple races. They haven’t dominated in the same way they did when the JHN and Ty Gibbs duo left. With most of JGR’s Xfinity wins since then belonging to part-time driver Aric Almirola.

While Retzlaff won’t bring back dominance, he’ll bring potential and more experience. This year JGR’s slow downturn was made worse by promoting 2 rookies, Sawalich and Taylor Gray. Sawalich improved massively from his horrible 1st half of the year but hasn’t won yet. While Gray’s been competitive all year and has come close to his 1st win with multiple ties but hasn’t gotten it yet.

While they do have a veteran in Brandon Jones, who won twice this year and was a top 10 driver this year, Retzlaff is the best of both worlds. Someone with more Xfinity experience than Gray and Sawalich.But he is only 22, so if JGR or Toyota wants, they could also continue to develop Retzlaff and put him on a Cup team. Maybe that 3rd Toyota team they’ve been angling for a while now.

Sam Hunt Racing

A team that has been mentioned a lot with silly season rumors. Admittedly not linked to Retzlaff, but with it looking like SHR is being this year’s wheelers and dealers, it leaves open a lot of doors, including for Retzlaff. SHR is both rumored to be going to Cup next year and has been linked to the aforementioned playoff driver, Harrison Burton. SHR does have 2 cars, however, and the status of current driver Dean Thompson is unknown.

If he isn’t coming back, Retzlaff would be the perfect replacement. Thompson before this year was struggling at Tricon in trucks, but with SHR he’s turned a corner, having 7 top tens with midpack equipment, making the 13 top fifteens that much more impressive.  So, with Retzlaff already doing great with Xfinity midpack teams, who knows how great he’ll be with the Toyota team? Thanks a bunch for reading!