Caesar Bacarella

Caesar Peter Bacarella (born December 18, 1973) is an American stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 45 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing. Bacarella has also driven in the ARCA Menards Series and Pirelli World Challenge.^[1]

Caesar Bacarella
Born	Caesar Peter Bacarella (1973-12-18) December 18, 1973 (age 51) Parkland, Florida, U.S.
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
32 races run over 8 years
Car no., team	No. 45 (Alpha Prime Racing)
2023 position	51st
Best finish	46th (2020)
First race	2017 Ticket Galaxy 200 (Phoenix)
Last race	2024 Wawa 250 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 3 0
ARCA Menards Series career
2 races run over 1 year
Best finish	92nd (2017)
First race	2017 Lucas Oil 200 (Daytona)
Last race	2017 General Tire 200 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
Statistics current as of August 23, 2024.

Caesar Bacarella driving in the 2022 Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America event

Racing career

Pirelli World Challenge

For the 2018 season, Bacarella joined Squadra Corse Garage Italia Americas for the series' Sprint-X races.^[2]

ARCA Racing Series

Bacarella drove in two races in the 2017 ARCA Racing Series with Finney Racing, driving the No. 80 car. Bacarella finished 33rd after being involved in a wreck in his first start, at Daytona. His second start, also with Finney Racing and his No. 80 car, came at Talladega. There, he yielded a DNF once again but finished 25th.^[3]

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Teaming up with B. J. McLeod Motorsports, Bacarella made his debut in the 2017 Ticket Galaxy 200 at Phoenix.^[4] After qualifying on owner points in 37th,^[5] he cut down on Playoff contender Brennan Poole early in the race as a lapped car,^[6] eliminating Poole from the race and ending his championship hopes.^[7] Poole later sounded off on the dangers of lapped cars, as did Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Austin Dillon, who was running the race. Referring to Bacarella's overall driving, Dillon said over in-car communications "get that guy off the freaking track, man! Where did he get a licence to do this?"^[8] Poole, for his part, commented on what he saw as the need for NASCAR to look at how it approves drivers for competition.^[9] Bacarella finished 30th in the race,^[10] and ran the following week at Homestead, finishing 31st.^[11]

During the off-season, Bacarella was tapped to drive the No. 8 car once again at the season opener at Daytona in 2018.^[12]

On August 30, 2021, it was announced that Bacarella and Tommy Joe Martins will form Alpha Prime Racing, and will compete full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2022. Bacarella, Martins, and Rajah Caruth are expected to run the full season under part-time schedules.^[13] On November 22, NASCAR indefinitely suspended Bacarella for substance abuse after he claimed he unknowingly took a workout supplement that is on the banned substances list. Bacarella has since enrolled in the Road to Recovery program and is expected to return for the Daytona race.^[14] On February 14, 2022, Bacarella was reinstated by NASCAR.^[15]

For 2023, Bacarella continued to run a partial schedule in the Xfinity Series. On April 22 at Talladega, Bacarella scored his first career Xfinity Series top 10 with a 6th place finish.

On January 3, 2024, Bacarella and Alpha Prime announced that he would run at least four races in the No. 45 on superspeedways in the Xfinity Series during the 2024 season, starting with the February Daytona race.^[16] Bacarella scored his second career top 10 at Talladega with a 7th place finish. He would then score his third career top 10 at Michigan, his first top 10 on a non-superspeedway.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NXSC	Pts	Ref
2017	B. J. McLeod Motorsports	8	Chevy	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	IOW	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ROA	DAR	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO 30	HOM 31	68th	13	[17]
2018			Toyota	DAY 13	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	DOV	CLT	POC																						52nd	45	[18]
			Chevy													MCH 34	IOW	CHI	DAY 38	KEN	NHA	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ROA	DAR	IND 23	LVS	RCH	ROV	DOV	KAN	TEX	PHO
	DGM Racing	90	Chevy																																	HOM 34
2019				DAY 29	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL 37	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	IOW	CHI	DAY 29	KEN	NHA	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ROA	DAR	IND	LVS	RCH	ROV	DOV	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM	67th	17	[19]
2020				DAY 29	LVS	CAL	PHO	DAR	CLT	BRI	ATL	HOM 29	HOM 30	TAL 17	POC	IRC	KEN	KEN	TEX	KAN	ROA	DRC	DOV	DOV	DAY 36	DAR	RCH	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL 13	ROV	KAN	TEX	MAR	PHO	46th	68	[20]
2021				DAY 12	DRC	HOM	LVS	PHO	ATL	MAR	TAL 38	DAR	DOV	COA DNQ	CLT	MOH	TEX	NSH	POC	ROA	ATL	NHA	GLN	IRC	MCH 35	DAY 36	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL 32	ROV	TEX	KAN	MAR	PHO	54th	37	[21]
2022	Alpha Prime Racing	45	Chevy	DAY 38	CAL	LVS	PHO	ATL	COA	RCH	MAR	TAL 25	DOV	DAR	TEX	CLT	PIR	NSH	ROA	ATL 28	NHA	POC	IRC	MCH	GLN	DAY 28	DAR	KAN	BRI	TEX	TAL 31	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	54th	37	[22]
2023				DAY INQ†	CAL	LVS	PHO																														51st	38	[23]
		66						ATL 38	COA	RCH	MAR
		43										TAL 6	DOV	DAR	CLT	PIR	SON	NSH	CSC	ATL	NHA	POC	ROA	MCH	IRC	GLN
		44																									DAY 31	DAR	KAN	BRI	TEX	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO
2024		45		DAY DNQ	ATL	LVS	PHO	COA	RCH	MAR	TEX	TAL 7	DOV	DAR	CLT	PIR	SON	IOW	NHA	NSH	CSC	POC	IND	MCH 9	DAY 29	DAR	ATL	GLN	BRI	KAN	TAL QL‡	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	52nd	46	[24]
† – Qualified but replaced by Stefan Parsons ‡ – Qualified but replaced by Tommy Joe Martins

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Racing Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	ARSC	Pts	Ref
2017	Finney Racing	80	Chevy	DAY 33	NSH	SLM	TAL 25	TOL	ELK	POC	MCH	MAD	IOW	IRP	POC	WIN	ISF	ROA	DSF	SLM	CHI	KEN	KAN	92nd	170	[25]

References

1. "Driver Caesar Bacarella Career Statistics - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
2. Allaway, Phil (February 3, 2018). "Martin Fuentes Returns to PWC, Caesar Bacarella Joins For Spirnt-X". Frontstretch. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
3. "Finney Racing finally returns to Daytona; introducing newcomer Bacarella". ARCA Racing. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
4. "Previewing the NASCAR Xfinity Series Ticket Galaxy 200 at Phoenix". Motorsports Tribune. November 10, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
5. "Caesar Bacarella". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
6. "Caesar Bacarella – NASCAR Talk". nascar.nbcsports.com. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
7. "William Byron wins NASCAR Xfinity race at Phoenix as title contenders are set". Autoweek. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
8. "A NASCAR driver making his first start is already making enemies". Engaging Car News, Reviews, and Content You Need to See - alt_driver. November 11, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
9. "Brennan Poole's playoff hopes take hit at Phoenix | NASCAR.com". Official Site Of NASCAR. November 11, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
10. "William Byron wins NASCAR Xfinity race at Phoenix as title contenders are set". Autoweek. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
11. "Driver Caesar Bacarella 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
12. "Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site - 2018 XFINITY Series Team Chart". www.jayski.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
13. "Caesar Bacarella, Tommy Joe Martins partner to form new Xfinity Series team, Alpha Prime Racing". Official Site of NASCAR. August 30, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
14. "UPDATE: Mike Harmon Racing, Caesar Bacarella Penalized". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
15. "Caesar Bacarella Reinstated by NASCAR". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. February 14, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
16. Kevin Rutherford (January 3, 2024). "Caesar Bacarella Competing at Superspeedways for APR". www.frontstretch.com. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
17. "Caesar Bacarella – 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
18. "Caesar Bacarella – 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
19. "Caesar Bacarella – 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
20. "Caesar Bacarella – 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
21. "Caesar Bacarella – 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
22. "Caesar Bacarella – 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
23. "Caesar Bacarella – 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
24. "Caesar Bacarella – 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
25. "Caesar Bacarella – 2017 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 15, 2020.

External links

• Caesar Bacarella driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Caesar Bacarella driver statistics at The Third Turn