Getting in the way of a 2-time Cup Series champion can have consequences. Kyle Busch had a disastrous season in 2024, which officially snapped his 19-year streak of attaining at least one win per season. With 8 DNFs and a multitude of technical problems like speeding penalties, Busch was in a bad state. But he came close to winning several times as well – including the August Daytona race. However, an Xfinity driver mixed up his own misery with Busch’s.

Parker Retzlaff is fresh blood on the NASCAR grid and brings plenty of promise. His rookie year in 2023 churned out 7 top-ten finishes, and Retzlaff outpaced even his senior teammate. Jeb Burton. However, his career was in the doldrums this year. So the youngster’s 2025 prospects have a shadow hanging over them.

The signs are not good for Kyle Busch’s betrayer

Before his 2023 rookie performance, Retzlaff fetched his first Xfinity top-ten finish just on his second start under RSS Racing. After one season at Jordan Anderson Racing, Parker Retzlaff looked to be on a trajectory of growth. 2024 began, and he continued that fiery streak, fetching 2 top-five finishes, including a career-best 3rd place in Daytona.

However, that was it – what followed was a chaotic string of 12 DNFs. Throw in Kyle Busch’s incident there and you have a recipe for disaster. The sheer amount of wrecks brought second thoughts to his team bosses at Jordan Anderson Racing. Sure enough, Retzlaff signed off in November. Since Retzlaff had pushed Harrison Burton, a Ford driver, and not his Chevy teammate Kyle Busch, the OEM had compelled the youngster to apologize. Yet now he has another opportunity in his hands – Retzlaff will drive the No. 4 Chevrolet full time for Alpha Prime Racing for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

NASCAR expert Eric Estepp downplays Chevrolet’s sudden surge of faith: “2024 was in many ways, an utter disaster – 23rd-place average finish in an RCR-aligned car? Pretty terrible. That number was weighed down by 12 DNFs. The next closest was Brandon Jones with 10. Retzlaff began the year with back-to-back top-fives at superspeedways. But did not score another top-five finish the entire season.”

Then Estepp referred to Retzlaff’s unfortunate encounter with his Cup Series rivals. Pushing a Ford driver instead of Kyle Busch even if it was by mistake paints a poor picture for the racer. “On the Cup side, he was effectively forced to apologize after he pushed Ford driver Harrison Burton to the win at Daytona over Chevy driver Kyle Busch.” Yet Estepp dropped some encouraging thoughts about Retzlaff: “Even though Retzlaff is 21 years old, inexperienced, not Kyle Busch’s teammate, was not in those Chevrolet team meetings – Chevrolet made him apologize…Rough year for Retzlaff…He has raw ability, raw speed – it just needs to be refined.”

Retzlaff’s new team is determined to refine his skills which have surfaced before.

Raw skill that has not materialized yet

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The 2024 season may be a permanent blotch on Parker Retzlaff‘s record. However, his rise to the highest levels of stock car racing was remarkable. The young Wisconsinite’s journey began on the dirt tracks of his home state, where he learned to wrestle cars with more slide than grip. However, his real prowess as an unbridled stallion shone in digital form – on iRacing. He did not just win, but Retzlaff destroyed his competition, winning a staggering 1,150 iRacing events. That is what paved his path to a swift escalation through NASCAR’s ranks.

So even though the 2024 season may not have been up to the mark, there is no reason to believe that Retzlaff has no fire left in him. Team owner Caesar Bacarella is mightily enthusiastic about Retzlaff’s entry. “I’m just super excited to have him join us. He’s a young, really talented racecar driver, and he’s going to help elevate the team.” Retzlaff himself is gearing up for a redemptive comeback. He said, “I feel like we still have something to prove. We all want to win races, be consistent, and prove we’re here to compete. Everyone here has told me how much they believe in me and what I can do.”

Evidently, Kyle Busch’s incident is hanging over Retzlaff’s otherwise somewhat promising resume. Let us see how the young speedster performs in 2025.