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Parker Retzlaff reacts to Chevy being very upset with him for not helping Kyle Busch at Daytona

ProfilePhotoby: Nick Geddes08/28/24NickGeddesNews
Parker Retzlaff
Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports

Parker Retzlaff reportedly found himself in hot water with Chevrolet stemming from a decision he made in the closing laps of this past Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona.

It was Retzlaff who gave Harrison Burton the push to send him past Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch on the final lap. Retzlaff, making just his second career Cup Series start, piloted the No. 62 Chevrolet for Beard Motorsports, a team associated with RCR. RCR even supplies Beard with engines, allowing them to compete at superspeedways.

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Retzlaff, speaking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Wednesday, declined to get into any consequences as a result of his decision to push Burton as opposed to Busch. The 21-year-old added he didn’t necessarily want to push a Ford over a Chevrolet, but it was his best chance at securing the win for himself.

“It’s not what we hoped for, so not going to get into the whatever, I guess the back-end stuff, but it was definitely not what I wanted to happen at the end of the race,” Retzlaff said. “I didn’t wanna push a Ford to win necessarily but FunkAway has supported me for the last two and a half years of racing in NASCAR and it was their first Cup race. I wanted to do everything in my power to give them a good result and kind of try to put my name on the map.

“Like I said, the end of the race is not how I wanted to work with pushing a Ford, but I also didn’t wanna give up everything with how much FunkAway has done for me and how much I would like to show that back to them.”

Parker Retzlaff made the best move for ‘me and everyone who supports me’ at Daytona

Retzlaff finished P7 in just his second Cup Series appearance which unfortunately, isn’t the headline surrounding him coming out of Daytona. It’s his decision to push Burton, which vaulted him into the playoffs. Busch, meanwhile, must win Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington to get in.

“I don’t know what the right decision truly was, but when I could see that we had a run on the backstretch and I kind of felt like I had a shot — I haven’t been here. This is only my second year, I haven’t been in the NASCAR scene very long, but I just wanted to put myself on the map. And I felt like it was a great opportunity for everyone at FunkAway and me to show that I could compete.

“I knew that my only chance was to get Harrison clear and get myself in line to have a chance to win the race, it was really my only shot. Don’t know what the right decision truly was, but it was the decision I felt like was the best for me and everyone who supports me.”