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Veteran NASCAR reporters Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck expressed sympathy for Chevy driver Parker Retzlaff, who recently pushed Ford driver Harrison Burton to win the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Retzlaff's decisive move proved detrimental to fellow Chevy driver Kyle Busch's playoff prospects.
In the overtime restart at Daytona, Busch and Christopher Bell lined up on the bottom lane, while Burton and Retzlaff occupied the top lane. In the two-lap shootout, Retzlaff helped the #21 Wood Brothers Racing driver clear the #8 Richard Childress Racing driver to win the race and advance to the playoffs.
Parker Retzlaff, who piloted the #62 Beard Motorsports Chevy, found himself in a tricky situation after helping Burton win the race. Despite being warned not to push Burton before the restart, he ended up costing Chevy driver Kyle Busch a potential victory and playoff berth.
Jordan Bianchi reckoned Retzlaff's actions would sever his relationship with RCR, given that Beard Motorsports is affiliated with the team. He sympathized with the 21-year-old saying on The Teardown:
"I feel bad for him because there’s probably going to be some bad blood and don’t forget too, that team is kind of a quasi-affiliate team of RCR… You can see why they’re putting in this kid’s head of, ‘Hey, do this.’ But so much easier to say than do in these closing moments." he said. [at 19:51]
Co-host Jeff Gluck mentioned that Retzlaff acted in the best interest of his team, ultimately securing a seventh-place finish.
"Parker Retzlaff — there was conversation on his radio channel basically saying, ‘Whatever you do, don’t push the #21 [Burton] to a win,’ because Parker Retzlaff is driving a Chevy, and they don’t want to push a Ford in. I think they would like to see a Chevy in, not knock a Chevy out." Gluck added. [at 18:55]
Parker Retzlaff reveals his initial thought to help Kyle Busch
The #62 Beard Motorsports driver, Parker Retzlaff mentioned that he initially considered lining up behind Kyle Busch on the bottom lane but decided against it. Retzlaff believed he could push Harrison Burton clear of the pack and then overtake him to win the race.
Speaking to the media after the Coke Zero Sugar 400, the 21-year-old said (via Bob Pockrass):
"In the first spot I wanted to go take the bottom of the #8 car and push the #8. I didn't want to lose myself a row and have no shot to win the race....I definitely didn’t want to push a Ford to the win in a Chevy. But I knew I needed to get Harrison clear to make it a race between me and him to race to the line there."
Parker Retzlaff added that he damaged the nose of his #62 Chevy on the final lap and had a broken line, which dropped him to seventh at the checkered flag.
