NASCAR Driver Deliberately Ignored Team To Push Rival Driver To Win At Daytona

NASCAR driver Parker Retzlaff made his second-career star in the Cup Series on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway and took home an impressive seventh-place finish.

But it may be a while until Retzlaff, 21, gets another shot in NASCAR‘s top series.

That’s because the Wisconsin native, who was driving for Beard Motorsports, deliberately ignored the orders of his team in order to push Harrison Burton of Wood Brothers Racing to victory.

So, why is that an issue? Let’s break it down for you.

With the victory, Burton secured himself an automatic spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in two weeks. That’s despite entering the racing in 34th place in the Cup Series standings. Win and you’re in.

But Beard Motorsports is an affiliate of Richard Childress Racing. Some might even say it serves as a third car for RCR.  When Retzlaff pushed Burton to victory, he did so at the expense of Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch.

Now you see the issue.

You might say, “well surely he couldn’t process all that with how fast everything moves.”

However, just moments later Retzlaff’s spotter directly told him “do not push that 21 to a win.”

He did, in fact, push that 21 to a win. The result all but eliminated Busch from the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The former series champion is now in a “must-win’ scenario next week in Darlington.

So, why did Retzlaff do it?

“Everyone works too hard to not have a shot at it,” Retzlaff told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “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. I had a little bit of nose damage, and my line broke apart down the backstretch. I pushed him clear, and my line broke apart and I had no chance to get clear.”

We’ll see how well that one goes over with his boss.