Do NASCAR manufacturers have too much of a say in how teams run on the racetrack? This was the question that popped up after the Martinsville race show that witnessed blatant race manipulation tactics by Chevy and Toyota drivers. Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s Chief Operating Officer had stated, “What I saw at Martinsville p—-d me off. And it p—-d everyone off at NASCAR because we all know better, and we know what happened.” Well, with the championship 4 on the line, the OEMs want to see their race car in the finale event. This is why we saw Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain build a blockade that allowed William Byron to make it through at Martinsville.

But, going by the latest development, it seems like this is perhaps a norm in the NASCAR garage to obey the OEM orders. And Parker Retzlaff from the Chevrolet camp seemed to have faced the brunt of it. The Xfinity Series race car driver is without a ride after running two full-time runs with Jordan Anderson Racing. He also made two Cup Series appearances; out of the two, he finished once inside the top 10 at the Daytona race in the fall.

“As my sophomore season in the Xfinity Series comes to an end, I am announcing that I will not be returning to Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport in 2025. I can’t thank Jordan Anderson and John Bammarito for giving me my first full-time opportunity to race in the Xfinity Series and for allowing me to chase my dream. Thank you to all my sponsors, team members, and supporters for all the encouragement while driving the 31 these last two years. As I close this chapter in my book, I am so grateful to have had such a supportive team behind me,” Parker Retzlaff shared this update via Instagram.

But here’s the thing: At Daytona in August, he had a P7 finish. Retzlaff was involved in a last-lap chaos that might have caused Kyle Busch a spot in the playoffs. Driving the No. 62 Bear Motorsports Chevy car, a team that has an alliance with RCR, he wasn’t able to help out Busch on the final few laps of the Daytona race. Instead, he decided to give a good push to the No. 21 Ford driven by Harrison Burton, who eventually dramatically won the race.

The race witnessed 16 leaders and 40 lead changes, but the winner only led a single lap. Further, two multi-car wrecks in the race wiped out a couple of race leaders, and only five cars that crossed the checkered flag were not a part of any incident.

Given the atmosphere after the race manipulation target, fans couldn’t help but link this race with Retzlaff’s situation. Many of them were convinced that his decision to help out #21 Ford in Daytona was the reason behind his uncertain NASCAR career.

Fans speculate the reasons behind Parker Retzlaff’s exit from Jordan Anderson Motorsports…

“Find that No. 62 [Retzlaff] spotter. Talk to him… If he can push us, push.” This was RCR team owner Richard Childress on the team radio. Desperate for the win, he was banking on the #62 to push Kyle Busch on the final restart. But Retzlaff was lined up on the high line, whereas Busch was out front, leading the charge of the field. Without the support, Busch lost the momentum, and Burton had a massive run coming on Turns 3 and 4, winning the race.

However, this move by Retzlaff just might have cost him his seat in the Xfinity Series, according to a race fan. “I’m willing to bet this is exactly because of what happened at Daytona. You don’t mess with Chevrolet. You don’t go against them. They will come after you and everyone you love.”

Retzlaff did clear out his position after the race, stating that he wanted to give his sponsor a good finish and didn’t intend to push the Ford instead of a Chevy car. “The end of the race isn’t how I wanted it to work with pushing a Ford, but I also didn’t want to give up everything with how much FunkAway has done for me.” But, this didn’t help his case as he is now without a ride for the next year, and Chevy team order certainly played a role in this decision, according to this user on Reddit.

“With all the talk about Manufacturer collusion, and how publicized it was that Retzlaff disobeyed Chevrolet orders at Daytona, they couldn’t have picked a worse time to do this.”

The driver did tip his hat to his team owners for standing by him and allowing him to race full-time. However, a small team doesn’t have a big say in the driver’s future at the team, and this is what led to some fans believing that Chevrolet played a part in Retzlaff’s exit for JAR.

“This reeks of Manufacturer influence. Jordan Anderson is a gracious owner and really supported Parker.”

Having survived over 400 laps of superspeedway racing in the Cup Series is indeed a big deal for a driver like Parker Retzlaff. If anything, he showcased his talent to the team in the garage on how he could get the job done in high-octane races. He certainly seems to be a superspeedway specialist, as he has had three top 5 and a top 10 finish during his tenure at Jordan Anderson Racing in the feeder series. But unfortunately, a single split-second call at Daytona just might have put his NASCAR career in serious jeopardy is what fans feel.

“Such a shame, he’s certainly got the talent, hope he gets a better seat.”

Another fan even went on to suggest that Ford should get hold of Parker Retzlfaff for next year. But again, finding teams and getting sponsorship support will be an uphill task for the young driver. “If Ford were smart, they stick this guy in one of their seats. He’s shown some pretty good promise the past couple seasons,” wrote a fan.

Kyle Busch is lucky to have survived the tough 2024 season, but the same cannot be said for Parker Retzlaff. While NASCAR fans feel Chevrolet targeted the latter, there seems to be no concrete evidence to consider this.

Did the OEM really play a role behind Retzlaff’s exit from the team, or was it a team decision? What is your take on this situation?