RICHMOND, Va. -- Sunday night's race at Richmond will long be remembered for multiple reasons. For Parker Retzlaff, this is the event where he successfully made his Cup Series debut.
"It's crazy how close all these cars are," Retzlaff told AltDriver on pit road. "I mean, I feel like I ran a really good race, and it's just a battle every lap.
"These are the best guys in NASCAR! So (I'm) happy with our day, and I got some experience."
The Xfinity Series regular, who competes full-time for Jordan Anderson Racing, suited up and drove the No. 66 Ford Mustang for MBM Motorsports. He started at the rear of the field and finished 35th, but he avoided incidents and kept the car clean.
Retzlaff completed all of the laps that he could and gained crucial experience in a new car.
More views from Richmond. A fine drive from @Parker79p behind the wheel of the @Xinsurance #66! #NASCAR #CookOut400
📸 @Nick_the_neko_ pic.twitter.com/FfqeDBeX2E
— MBM Motorsports (@MBMMotorsports) August 12, 2024
The site of Retzlaff's debut was fitting. This is the track where the Wisconsin native posted his first top-10 finish in the Xfinity Series, doing so in only his second career start. It is the track where he scored his first start from the pole and led 27 laps.
Retzlaff's average finish at Richmond in Xfinity is 14.0.
"I feel like Richmond is the track I'm the most confident at, so I think it made it a little bit easier coming here," Retzlaff said. "And we got over 40 minutes of practice yesterday, so I feel like I felt pretty good coming into it."
Now that Retzlaff has checked off that first Cup start, he can now prepare for the next one on his schedule. However, this will present an entirely new challenge.
Retzlaff will join Beard Motorsports at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 24. He will drive the No. 62 Chevrolet while competing in his first Cup Series superspeedway race.
The young NASCAR driver will have speed in the car. Beard Motorsports has shown the ability to bring cars capable of contending for top-five finishes to Daytona. It will be up to Retzlaff to adjust to how the Next Gen cars race in the draft and push each other.
Richmond and Daytona are wildly different tracks, and they present entirely different challenges. However, Retzlaff feels better prepared heading toward his superspeedway debut because he has gotten some seat time in the Next Gen car and gained firsthand experience with the sequential shifter.