Fuel pickup issue no problem for Parker Retzlaff at Phoenix
AVONDALE, Ariz. — A week after failing to qualify for the race, Parker Retzlaff had one of the best outings of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career Saturday at Phoenix Raceway.
After an issue kept him from racing at Circuit of the Americas, Retzlaff started 26th and drove to 12th late in the 45-lap opening stage. Then, an issue relegated him to 22nd in the stage.
Under caution, Retzlaff said the fuel pressure felt fine after it had been dropping in the turns. Crew chief Joe Williams initially told Retzlaff to bring the car straight to the garage so they could fix the fuel pump. Then, Retzlaff asked Williams if they could replace it on pit road and wondered if they had enough fuel in the tank, to which Williams told him to pit instead.
Retzlaff pitted under the stage caution and during the caution shortly after stage two began.
Ultimately, the team diagnosed it as a fuel pickup issue.
After another caution and subsequent restart, Retzlaff went to work. In stage two, he drove from 32nd to 18th.
“Going into the final stage, we knew we had a good car,” Retzlaff said.
Right away, Retzlaff jumped to 13th and never fell lower than 16th, mixing it up with entries from Haas Factory Team and JR Motorsports.
Heading into overtime, he was 13th. On the final lap, he passed Josh Williams and William Sawalich to get 11th, just 0.043 seconds shy of a top-10 finish.
“We kept going forward and picked up some spots in the final stage. I’m happy with a 11th-place finish,” Retzlaff said. “We could’ve had a couple more adjustments because we were a little tight. We’ll move on to Las Vegas and get better.”
Three years ago, Retzlaff had a fast NASCAR debut, sparking promise in what he was capable of in limited resources. He proved himself again Saturday, earning the fourth-best finish for an Alpha Prime car, excluding Daytona and Talladega:
- Eighth – Stefan Parsons
- Bristol, September 2022
- Ninth – Caesar Bacarella
- Michigan, August 2024
- 10th – Tommy Joe Martins
- Texas, October 2020
- 11th – Parker Retzlaff
- Phoenix, March 2025
- 12th – Stefan Parsons
- Watkins Glen, August 2022
- 12th – Rajah Caruth
- Martinsville, October 2022
- Martinsville, October 2023
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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