Days after pushing Harrison Burton to the win at Daytona, Parker Retzlaff is still trying to figure out what he could have done differently to have won or helped fellow Chevrolet driver Kyle Busch win instead of Burton and Ford.
“There was nothing that I tried to do that was malicious or harmful,” Retzlaff said Wednesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “It was, basically my second Cup race ever, my first Cup race at Daytona and maybe me being young and feeling like I had a shot to win the race kind of made me make the wrong decision, but I don’t know.
“Like I said, it’s not what I meant to happen or … that I wanted to hurt Kyle or anyone at Chevy. It was just I seen an opportunity that I could put myself on the map, really.”
As the field headed into overtime in last weekend’s race, Busch led in his Chevrolet. He needed to win to make the playoffs.
When the chance came to choose lanes for the overtime restart, Busch took the inside lane. Burton, who was second, moved his Ford to the outside of Busch.
Christopher Bell, running third, put his Toyota on the inside of the second row behind Busch.
Retzlaff, who is a full-time driver in the Xfinity Series, was next in fourth. He was driving for Beard Motorsports, which is supported by Richard Childress Racing, the owner of Busch’s car. Retzlaff couldn’t line up behind Busch since Bell already was there.
Retzlaff moved his Chevrolet to the outside of Bell and directly behind Burton.
Before the restart, Retzlaff was told over his team’s radio: “Don’t push that 21 to the win.”
As the white flag waved to begin the last lap, the field was a jumble of Chevrolets, Fords and Toyotas. No one was connected to a manufacturer teammate at the front.
Busch led on the inside in his Chevy with Bell’s Toyota behind him and Cody Ware’s Ford behind them.
On the outside line was Burton’s Ford, followed by Retzlaff’s Chevrolet and Ty Gibbs’ Toyota. John Hunter Nemechek had pulled his Toyota alongside Retzlaff but nobody went with him and he soon fell back.
The outside line got a surge while the inside line was jumbled briefly down the backstretch. That was enough for Burton to move into the lead. The 21-year-old Retzlaff followed but could not clear Busch, who side drafted him to get closer to Burton.
Burton moved in front of Busch and blocked him coming to the line. Retzlaff was side-by-side with Bell and in no position to help Busch.
Burton won to earn a spot in the playoffs and give Wood Brothers Racing its 100th career Cup victory. Busch finished second and must win Sunday’s Southern 500 to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2012. Retzlaff placed seventh.
“The end of the race was definitely not what we hoped for,” Retzlaff said Wednesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I’m not going to get into the back end stuff. It was definitely not what I wanted to happen at the end of the race. I didn’t want to push a Ford to the win necessarily but also (sponsor) FunkAway has supported me for the last two-and-a-half years of racing in NASCAR and it was their first Cup race. I wanted to do everything I could in my power to give them a good result and kind of try to put my name on the map.”
Burton said Wednesday that he feels for Retzlaff and any criticism he is receiving for pushing a different manufacturer in the final laps.
Asked if he heard that Retzlaff was told not to push him, Burton said: “I did hear that, and I’ve seen him catching some flak for it. I don’t know. I mean for me, that’s so hard to ask a kid like Parker or a kid like me — I don’t know his situation — but a win at Daytona for him, what does that mean? It’s his second Cup race ever.
“For him to not push me would make him most likely, inevitably, get shucked out of line, get split to the middle and then I would just make the block on whoever goes to the top and then that guy would be promoted to second. You’re basically asking him to eliminate himself from the race and a chance to win his first Cup in his second start at Daytona.”
Burton praised Retzlaff for how he raced him in the final laps.
“He did a really good job,” Burton said. “He did everything the right way. He pushed me in a way that didn’t crash me. He could have crashed me a couple of times where I was pretty sideways and he let me gather it up.
“I hate he did things the right way and it still is like coming back to bite him. I hate that for him. I don’t know him very well, but he seems to be a really good kid and sucks that’s how it goes.
“But you know, that’s the sport, too, right? It’s very hard and there are a lot of tough situations that you get put in as a driver. If I owned a car, I would want my driver to try to win the race.”