Bacarella, Martins team up to form Alpha Pride, Caruth to run Xfinity part-time
Tommy Joe Martins and Caesar Bacarella announced on Monday they will form a new NASCAR Xfinity Series team in 2022.
Martins Motorsports will become Alpha Pride Racing but the familiar No. 44 will still adorn the team’s Chevrolet Camaro.
“I want to build something,” Bacarella said. “I love this sport. That’s why I do it.” Caesar continued, “I’ve known Tommy and his dad since 2018, and when I saw the news about them going part time, I started asking questions. It led to a discussion about ownership, which is something I’d already been thinking about.”
“Caesar is such a great dude,” Martins said. “He actually called me asking about what would it take to start a team. I told him a whole lot,” Martins laughed.
ARCA East driver Rajah Caruth is confirmed to run the No. 44 Chevrolet in three races during 2022.
Caruth will run at Martinsville, Dover and Richmond. Pending additional sponsorship, Caruth may also run at Pocono and Kansas.
The team is limiting Caruth’s races to set him up for a possible rookie of the year campaign in 2023.
“Rajah is the future for us,” Martins said. “I’ve had the privilege of getting to know him and his dad, Roger, over the last few months and they are exactly the type of people we want to be a part of Alpha Prime Racing. Rajah has his whole career in front of him. I’m just honored they trust us to be one of his first steps.”
Caruth will also be running for the ARCA Menards Series championship in 2022. He has earned four Top 10 finishes and two Top 5 finishes in six ARCA East starts this season.
Martins and Bacarella will each run the remaining races in the No. 44 Chevrolet.
Bacarella will run a limited schedule in 2022 while also competing for the Lamborghini Blancpain World Challenge America GT3 championship.
Martins will be stepping back from full-time competition to run 10-15 races in 2022.
“I mentioned to my dad and MMS co-owner Rodney about wanting to take a step back and proposed the idea of a partnership,” Martins continued. “It’s a perfect situation for both of us. He brings so much business knowledge and marketing savvy to the table for us, and obviously, I’ve been through the school of hard knocks racing-wise. I think we complement each other really well.”
SOURCES:
Tommy Joe Martins Racing
NASCAR
Racing-Reference.Info
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com