Getty Ryan Ellis will return to Alpha Prime Racing.
Alpha Prime Racing has taken care of an important piece of business. The NASCAR Xfinity Series team has locked up one of its key drivers for the 2023 season on an expanded schedule.
Alpha Prime Racing provided the update on September 15 before the trip to Bristol Motor Speedway. The team confirmed that Ryan Ellis will return after making 11 starts during the 2022 season. He will kick off his 2023 campaign with his 100th Xfinity Series start, which will take place at an event to be named later.
“Ryan was one of the first people to believe in what we were putting together here at Alpha Prime Racing,” said team general manager Tommy Joe Martins. ‘We’re very happy to have him and his partners secured for 2023 and proud to have him be the first driver announced in our lineup.”
There isn’t a full lineup of partners or races available just yet, so questions remain about Ellis’ upcoming schedule. However, Martins told Jayski that the Virginia native will run “at least 15” races during the 2023 season.
Ellis Will Cap Off 2022 at a Historic Short Track
GettyRyan Ellis will race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Ellis has made 10 starts for Alpha Prime Racing so far. He will make his 11th — and final scheduled — start of 2022 at a historic short track. He will take over the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Ellis has dealt with some struggles during the 2022 season. He had DNFs in three races due to crashes, and he failed to qualify for the Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway. He also had some strong performances that brought extra attention to Alpha Prime Racing.
Ellis kicked off his campaign with a trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He turned in a 13th-place finish in the No. 44 and followed it up with a 16th-place finish at Phoenix Raceway. Ellis has since added two more top-20 finishes, including a 13th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The trip to Bristol Motor Speedway will present a new challenge considering that Ellis only has two career Xfinity Series starts at the short track. He finished 28th for Rick Ware Racing back in 2015 and then 35th for Obaika Racing in 2016.
Alpha Prime Racing Has Other Moves Ahead
Locking up Ellis for an expanded schedule was an important move for Alpha Prime Racing. He brought sponsors to the table, and he delivered on the track while keeping the car mostly clean.
There are other moves that APR needs to make in the coming months. Specifically, there are questions about the 2023 lineup that will require some answers from Martins and APR.
The team relied on a variety of drivers in 2022, including Rajah Caruth, Caesar Bacarella, Sage Karam, Josh Bilicki, Kaz Grala, Andy Lally, Howie DiSavino III, Martins, and Julia Landauer. It is likely that some of these drivers will return for 2023 after some strong performances. Karam, in particular, secured the first top-five finish in team history.
When Martins and Bacarella first unveiled APR in August 2021, they announced that Caruth was the future of the team. The plan was to have the ARCA Menards Series driver run his true rookie schedule in 2023. APR has since undergone many changes, but there is no reason to doubt that Caruth will return in an expanded capacity.
