LAS VEGAS, Nev.: NASCAR Xfinity Series mainstay driver Ryan Ellis will not return to Alpha Prime Racing in 2025 and will instead join Mario Gosselin’s DGM Racing, CATCHFENCE.com has confirmed.
While some details of Ellis’s new partnership with the Lake Wales, Florida-based team are still being finalized, the Ashburn, Va’s new gig will include competing full-time for the NASCAR Xfinity Series team beginning with Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on Feb. 15, 2025, and support from long-time partner Classic Collision.
“Being part of Alpha Prime has meant so much to me,” Ellis told CATCHFENCE.com. “They helped me achieve a lifelong dream of racing full-time in NASCAR and I’ve had so much fun working with this group over the last few years.
I feel like I’ve learned so much this year, and I’ll forever be thankful for the opportunity they provided me. Alpha Prime truly became my first “home” in the sport, and everyone there will forever feel like family.”
Ellis said he appreciated the smaller details that Alpha Prime Racing insisted that made him feel like part of a racing family.
“I’ve been in NASCAR for more than 10 years now, but this was the first team I worked with consistently enough to do small things like leaving my equipment on the hauler or have my name on the hauler, and the first time I’ve ever had my name on a locker in NASCAR,” added Ellis.
“Caesar (Bacarella) Tommy (Joe Martins, team owners), and the entire group gave me a massive opportunity, and I feel like I’ll never be able to express how grateful I am to have been a small part of the beginning of Alpha Prime Racing’s story.
“I wish them nothing but the best going forward and I can’t wait to race against them and their lineup next season.”
Ellis has been a fixture in the NASCAR garage for more than a decade, whether driving or excelling in a public relations representative role in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Since 2022, Ellis has been a member of the Alpha Prime Racing team, competing in a part-time role in 2022 with 11 races before accelerating to a full-time role for the past two seasons.
Together, the duo has recorded a career-best finish for Ellis of 11th twice, most recently in this year’s season-opening Daytona International Speedway race.
Entering Saturday afternoon’s Ambetter Health 302 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, he is ranked 22nd in Xfinity Series championship points and has recorded two top-20 finishes in the last three races.
Earlier this year in Sin City, Ellis finished 22nd after starting 23rd as a teammate to Brennan Poole.
In 12 years of NASCAR competition, Ellis has achieved 159 starts across all of NASCAR’s top-three national divisions with six starts in the NASCAR Cup Series and 26 in the
DGM Racing has fielded two full-time teams and occasionally entered a third throughout the 2024 season. Kyle Weatherman has driven the team’s flagship No. 91 Chevrolet for 28 races this season, while the team has had a rotating roster of drivers in their No. 92 Chevrolet.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ryan to our family and looking forward to advancing our Xfinity program together,” said DGM Racing team owner Mario Gosselin.
“Solidifying next year’s season this early on is huge for our small team. Having the resources this soon gives us the opportunity to upgrade some of our equipment and start preparing in a way we have been unable to in prior seasons, which I believe will result in our best on-track performance.”
Follow Chris Knight on X (Twitter) @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
