![\"Parker](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2289633878-e1788447551824.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Viking Motorsports’ Parker Retzlaff could be the spoiler of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase.<\/p>\n
Viking Motorsports<\/a> is the surprise of the 2026 NASCAR<\/a> O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series season, and it is all for good reasons.<\/p>\n The second-year team, owned by longtime RSS Racing sponsor Don Sackett, is now in The Chase, qualifying for the postseason and defeating some of the sport\u2019s powerhouse organizations.<\/p>\n But the true surprise is the development of Parker Retzlaff, driver of Viking Motorsports\u2019 No. 99 Chevrolet. Year-in and year-out, Retzlaff became known for a handful of strong runs, but his prior teams never enabled him to consistently run near the front of the pack. But Viking Motorsports, which has a Richard Childress Racing alliance, is proving different.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have talent in the shop and talent on the team,\u201d Sackett said. \u201cIt\u2019s been very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n Retzlaff qualified his No. 99 team into The Chase, seeding ninths ahead of drivers from Haas Factory Team, Joe Gibbs Racing and JR Motorsports.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the first chance I\u2019ve gotten in actual good equipment and be in the top five and top 10 every week,\u201d Retzlaff said. \u201cWhen The Chase starts, our goal will be the same that it\u2019s been all year, and that\u2019s maximizing our day.<\/p>\n \u201cA top-10 finish for us in points in year two of this team with all of these guys would be a good start. This is the best opportunity I\u2019ve ever had, and that\u2019s shown.\u201d<\/p>\n Retzlaff\u2019s 2026 Season<\/p>\n A top-10 result is certainly doable for Retzlaff, who has four top fives and 10 top 10s through 24 races. The Chase begins this weekend at Darlington, where Retzlaff and Viking Motorsports had their first breakout race of 2026 \u2014 not including drafting tracks \u2014 in which he qualified fifth and finished eighth.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like there were some places we lost some points and could have done a little better,\u201d Retzlaff said. \u201cOnce the Chase starts, we can try to make up some of those points and be a consistent team every week.\u201d<\/p>\n Retzlaff is a humble 23-year-old racer, who doesn\u2019t take credit for the team\u2019s success. But he believes the people surrounding him are pushing him to a new level.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really thankfully to Don and everyone who owns Viking Motorsports and Funkaway,\u201d Retzlaff said. \u201cThey are always standing behind me. We\u2019re trying to work in a positive direction.\u201d<\/p>\n Retzlaff\u2019s NASCAR Future<\/p>\n Retzlaff is not signed with Viking Motorsports, as of now, for 2027. However, it is likely he returns to the team next year.<\/p>\n He has a bright future in the sport. At just 23, he is already being touted as one of the sport\u2019s rising stars. Even RFK Racing owner Brad Keselowski touted Retzlaff\u2019s ability earlier this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n Retzlaff has made two Cup Series starts, both coming in 2024 with Beard Motorsports. But he got in a bit of controversy at Daytona, when he pushed Ford\u2019s Harrison Burton late in the going instead of a Chevrolet driver. The controversy led to speculation that Chevrolet would pull the plug on Retzlaff, but it did not.<\/p>\n Now, as The Chase begins, he joins JR Motorsports and RCR as a Chevrolet representative in the postseason.<\/p>\n With a string of top 10s in the Chase, Retzlaff could very possibly finish inside of the top 10 in the standings.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJoseph Wolkin<\/a> Joseph Wolkin is a motor sports expert, focusing on telling the untold stories inside of Nascar, Formula 1 and the IndyCar Series. He is currently working on a new book about team leaders turn racers into champions. Follow Joseph on X at @joewolkin. More about Joseph Wolkin<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Viking Motorsports’ Parker Retzlaff could be the spoiler of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase. Viking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":883450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-883449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}