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
