Heartbreak at Circuit of the Americas. With two races already completed, it’s fair to say that the NASCAR season is well and truly underway, which means both the Cup and Xfinity Series are making their way to the newly overhauled track in Austin, Texas. Expectations are high from COTA after the layout has been changed, as the venue has transitioned into a 2.3-mile, 20-turn national course, which is already leading to plenty of unexpected results.

While Connor Zilisch is turning up the heat with a pole finish at COTA, Parker Retzlaff isn’t enjoying the same type of luck. Kyle Busch’s former ally failed to qualify for the Focused Health 250 and issued an apology for his performance on social media.

Parker Retzlaff left speechless after embarrassing DNQ

Disappointed. That’s what Parker Retzlaff is feeling after failing to qualify for an Xfinity Series race for the first time in his career. The 21-year-old is in the midst of what can only be described as his worst start in NASCAR’s second tier since he began driving full-time in 2023. The Wisconsin native finished 29th and 27th in his opening two races at Daytona and Atlanta Motor Speedway and failed to build on that performance at COTA.

Driving the No. 4 Chevy, Parker Retzlaff finished 40th at Circuit of the Americas behind fellow Alpha Prime Racing driver Brad Perez but ahead of Cope Family Racing’s Thomas Annunziata. Expressing his disappointment at the DNQ, the youngster wrote, “I don’t even know what to say. Never in my life was this even a thought. I’m sorry to my team, my sponsors and everyone who supports me.”

The result seems to be an unexpected one, especially because Brennan Poole, who also competes in the same equipment for Alpha Prime Racing, finished 32nd in the qualifying standings at COTA. However, for unknown reasons, Retzlaff simply couldn’t extract performance from the car, finishing a staggering four seconds behind pole-sitter Connor Zilisch and almost a second behind teammate Perez, who finished 39th.

Perhaps acclimatizing to Circuit of the Americas’ new layout is what proved to be the problem. Parker Retzlaff has competed at COTA twice before, finishing 17th in 2023 and 11th last year, highlighting that a 40th-place finish this time around is just a one-off bad result. However, the young racer will not be taking his DNQ lightly and will aim for redemption when the Xfinity Series makes its way to Phoenix Raceway for the 2025 GOVX 200.

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Alpha Prime Racing owner takes responsibility for the results

Formerly known as Martins Motorsports, Alpha Prime Racing was rebranded at the beginning of the 2022 Xfinity Series season after being inactive from 2018 to 2019. Over the years, the team, co-owned by Craig Martins, Tommy Joe Martins, and Caesar Bacarella, has tried to make its mark on NASCAR’s second tier but has struggled to find its footing. In December last year, the team renumbered the No. 43 Chevy to No. 4, with Parker Retzlaff joining in from Jordan Anderson Racing.

Despite steps being taken to improve on-track performance, the results have left much to be desired in the last few years. Taking responsibility for the two DNQ finishes, Tommy Joe Martins tweeted, “The worst day in company history & I take full responsibility for it. @Parker79p & @bradxperez are both great racecar drivers. I’m sorry to their sponsors & teams who trusted APR & myself. I haven’t put us in a position to succeed. I’m embarrassed, & will be for a very long time.”

However, Alpha Prime Racing has no time to feel sorry for themselves. The team will want to make a statement through Brennan Poole at Circuit of the Americas to restore some pride after two embarrassing results. Meanwhile, the No. 45 and No. 4 teams will already be keeping an eye on the race in Phoenix to avoid such a fate once again. While unexpected results are a part of the motorsports world, APR will aim to get to the bottom of its underperformance to rectify the issues going forward.