Roulette Recap follows a randomly drawn NASCAR Xfinity Series driver throughout a race and recaps their efforts. The driver could face calamity on lap one or start from the rear and win the race – there is no telling ahead of time. May the odds be ever in the driver’s favor.
Food City 300
Parker Retzlaff walked into Bristol Motor Speedway for his first-ever NASCAR Xfinity Series race and qualified his No. 31 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevy Camaro in P14.
In preparation to do battle at The Last Great Collesium, crew chief Josh Graham told his team, “We’ve got a pretty good car. Let’s be there at the end.”
Stage 1
Retzlaff lined up on the outside line and after some early shuffling, he settled in at P15. Lap 17 saw him working on the No. 45 of Jeffrey Earnhardt. J. Earnhardt ended up claiming the spot and after the No. 38 of Joe Graf, Jr. got around him, Retzlaff found himself in P17 on Lap 25.
Five laps later, he worked his way around Graf, and Graham informed his driver he was the “fastest car on track.” Two laps later, Graham chimed in again, stating, “This looks really good.”
Retzlaff had worked back to P15, but 45 laps into the race, the focus was all forward as the leader, Cole Custer, was lapping cars left and right.
Over the next few laps, spotter Chris Osborne encouraged Retzlaff to keep up the great work. Lap 55 saw drivers starting to try different lanes as the track began to change.
Retzlaff worked past J. Earnhardt and was instructed to settle down and, ultimately, settle in. With 21 to go, he got around the No. 98 of Riley Herbst, however, Herbst retaliated and came right back for his spot.
Facing the final eight laps in the opening stage, the leader was just four car lengths back. It was now a race to be the Lucky Dog, and he would be fighting J. Earnhardt for that spot. Fortunately, Retzlaff was able to hold off Custer and finished the stage P16.
Retzlaff told his crew he was pretty free. Graham encouraged Retzlaff that the cars in front of him were starting to come back to him while he was holding his own.
Stage 2
Retzlaff came to his crew for adjustments under caution. Graham called his driver back to pit road for fuel, which did not happen during the first stop. Retzlaff lined up P16 to restart on Lap 96.
The opening laps of the second stage were shaky as many of the leaders got loose. Retzlaff found himself in the middle of a three-wide situation and lost a spot to his teammate, Jeb Burton.
After settling into P16, Osborne updated Retzlaff on how neighboring drivers were attacking the track. However, Graham radioed in to let him know, “Dale’s [Earnhardt, Jr.] making time on the bottom. We’re fine on the bottom.”
With 44 to go in the stage, Retzlaff was once again having to focus forward as leader Justin Allgaier was making his way to the No. 31’s bumper. Osborne said, “I know you’re driving your guts out, but these are for position,” as Allgaier neared and Retzlaff worked to set himself up as the Lucky Dog.
The first caution for incident came on Lap 147 (24 to go) as Connor Mosack hit the bumper of Graf, sending him for a spin. Retzlaff was sitting P15 and told Graham his car was “so tight.”
Graham brought his driver in for adjustments and sent him back out in P15 with 17 to go in the stage. He also encouraged Retzlaff, “I know it doesn’t feel like it, but we’ve got a top 10 car. We’ve made the adjustments and now we can go race these guys.”
Retzlaff was also told to start trying varying lines on different parts of the track.
With 11 to go, Retzlaff found himself P16, ahead of Burton and just behind J. Earnhardt.
Eight laps later, Retzlaff found himself in a very heads-up situation.
WOW.
Josh Berry, Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones and more! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/5jvqXRjNvE
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 16, 2023
This happened just ahead of Retzlaff who managed to avoid the chaos and carnage.
He finished the stage P11.
Stage 3
Graham kept his driver on track to restart P4, saying, “You said you wanted to win here. This is the winning strategy.”
Retzlaff immediately got sucked back after getting stuck in the middle of three cars and fell to P7. Once he got his footing, the caution waved for an incident between the No. 51 of Jeremy Clements and Graf.
Retzlaff lined up P7 on Lap 191 and once again found himself middle of three which shuffled him back to P10. He lost two more spots and settled in at P12 for the next stretch. He found himself in P12 when the No. 21 of Austin Hill slammed the wall on lap 217, which brought out the next caution.
Graham took this opportunity, with 81 laps remaining, to pit for fresh tires and fuel.
Once back on track, Graham updated his driver, saying, “Alright, we’re all on the same tires now. Let’s do what we do.”
Strong Finish Despite Trouble
Unfortunately, Retzlaff immediately radioed in with a power steering issue. He stayed out despite this and lined up P14 with 76 to go.
Five laps later, Retzlaff was once again on his toes as J. Earnhardt slammed the wall and almost caused The Big One. Retzlaff radioed his team saying he needed a caution, soon.
With 52 to go, he got what he desperately wanted when the No. 91 of Josh Bilicki went for a spin. Graham worked to calm his frustrated driver, told him they would be pitting, and would be adding power steering fluid to get him to the end of the race.
Retzlaff came to his pit box from P14, and after getting the much-needed fluid, he restarted P15 with 44 to go.
With 39 to go, Graham shared over the radio, “The right front’s on fire.” But, just as quickly as it started, it was out.
At the front of the field, it was a five-pack battle for the lead with Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek, Custer, Chandler Smith, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Suddenly, Earnhardt, Jr. was seen hitting pit road with smoke rolling from his car. While this was unfortunate for the fan favorite, it moved Retzleff up a spot.
Once everything shook out, Retzlaff finished a respectable P15, besting his average season finish of 18.4.
Graham thanked his driver for fighting. In closing, he said, “I know it’s not what we wanted, but after everything we’ve been through today,” which included the car failing pre-race inspection twice, “Good job out there.”
Sponsor Shoutout
As NASCAR fans know, sponsors make the sport go ’round. Give Parker’s sponsors a follow and thank them for sponsoring the JAR driver!
FunkAway, Bommarito Autosport, FVP Parts, Easy Care/APCO, Ponsse
Be sure to give Parker Retzlaff (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) and Jordan Anderson Racing (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) a follow to keep up with the latest news from the driver and team.
