Ryan Ellis’ Unlikely Journey To Alpha Prime Racing

For the first time in as long as Nascar driver Ryan Ellis can remember, he doesn’t need a day job to support his racing efforts. Finally, the 32-year-old is making a living doing what he loves most.

“I was sitting in bed thinking that I have just about everything I’ve wanted,” Ellis said. “I have a happy marriage, a beautiful daughter, a couple of dogs and a nice house. We’re not making millions of dollars, but I do things like become a mannequin of Jeff Gordon and I take a step back and realize that I don’t know how I got here but I’m here.”

Ellis, 32, is entering the prime years of his career. While he was never a highly coveted prospect, the former start-and-park racer is making waves with consistent runs in the Nascar Xfinity Series with the first-year Alpha Prime Racing.

Life is suddenly much different for Ellis. Now, he is solely focused on his racing career. Next year, he’ll run approximately half of the Xfinity Series schedule — if not more — with Alpha Prime, which is owned by Tommy Joe Martins and Caesar Bacarella.

“When I was looking at places I could potentially run this year, I saw Alpha Prime as the perfect opportunity because I believe in Tommy’s vision and Caesar’s vision,” Ellis said. “I know they have really good cars. Me driving for 75,000 teams, I thought I’d bring a different perspective to help them. Now, it’s 10 or so of us driving together.”

His decision was the right one. For the first time in Ellis’ Nascar career, he’s competing for top 15s on a consistent basis. It’s not the sexiest statistic and he knows that, but each strong run for this team is like a win.

In 11 Xfinity Series starts this year, Ellis earned two top 15s and five top 20s. He also failed to qualify at Martinsville with an ill-handling racecar. The consistency comes with an influx of sponsor interest, a dream for a racecar driver.

Ellis said, “I’m trying to check off boxes I haven’t checked off in the past. My schedule is going to be similar to this year, and we’re going to add some fun tracks.”

One of Ellis’ key partners dates back to the period in his life where he almost abandoned his dream. He was rarely getting opportunities to drive and the grind of spending days upon days finding sponsorship just didn’t pay off. So he went to work at Go Fas Racing as a public relations representative for his friend, Matt DiBenedetto.

Keen Parts, a sponsor of DiBenedetto’s car at the time, decided to partner with Ellis when their driver departed for Leavine Family Racing and Go Fas evidently shut down after two years with Corey LaJoie.

“It’s crazy because in 2016 I kind of stepped away,” Ellis said of his journey back into racing. “If Go Fas didn’t shut down, I would’ve probably gotten back into racing, but I just don’t know how or how deep I’d delve back into it. I ran two to four races a year for four years.

“But it’s crazy that I was able to get back into it. I feel like I’m in a better spot even when I was back running with BK Racing.”

Keen Parts is now Ellis’ largest partner. Additionally, he signed more sponsors this year, including Four Loko, Heartbeat Hot Sauce, Costa Oil and Renascent Demolition.

As Ellis moves forward, it’s surreal for him to know he’s back racing and in the best situation he’s ever been in. His goals, however, are much different now compared to four years ago.

“It sounds insane saying this, but being 32, I could have a future in the Cup Series if I had the funds,” he said. “I just don’t have the drive to race in the Cup Series because I know how much of a grind it could be and how quickly it could spit you back out. I want to build a sustainable career like what Justin Allgaier has done or Matt Crafton or Johnny Sauter. You can make a pretty good living and race against some amazing young kids.”

Ellis’ 2023 schedule will be announced prior to the new season starting. The rest of Alpha Prime’s driver lineup has yet to be announced.