When the checkered flag waved on the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway, one driver closed out a major milestone.
Brennan Poole, driver of the No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, made his 200th career start in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS), crossing the line in 19th place, two laps down to winner Taylor Gray.
While this was not a flashy result by any means, it marked a point of reflection because four years ago, there was a question of if Poole would ever race again.
After his near-full-time season in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series for Premium Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing, Poole lost his ride to a rotation of drivers anchored by James Davison.
During the 2021 season, the Woodlands, Texas native only made one start in NASCAR’s top-three divisions. He came home 14th in that lone NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) start for On Point Motorsports and waited for the next opportunity to strike. However, between a lack of funding and recovering from a wrist injury from snowboarding, the 2021 season was a dark time for Poole.
In a discussion with Ben Branscum of TobyChristie.com in 2024, Poole said he never thought he would drive again.
“In my heart, I never wanted to give up and never wanted to stop,” Poole said to Jayski’s Silly Season Site in 2024.
Prior to 2020, Poole had completed two full-time seasons in O’Riley for Chip Ganassi Racing, highlighted by a near miss at Victory Lane following a Talladega Superspeedway finish in 2016. Additionally during this time, he did two part-time seasons in trucks for On Point Motorsports.
In 2022, Poole returned to more frequent driving. He made eight attempts and seven starts in the truck series for G2G Racing, along with 17 attempts and seven starts in the Mike Harmon Racing No. 47 Chevrolet.
While his partial schedule for Harmon was not strong, with a best finish of 31st place, it got his name back on the map. Later in the season, Jimmy Means Racing and JD Motorsports both put him in their car for multiple races. He DNQ’d both attempts for Jimmy Means, but scored an impressive top-15 finish for JD Motorsports at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This opened the door for the Woodlands, Texas native to drive their No. 6 car in all but one race the next season.
2023 was much stronger, with only one DNQ and a top-5 at Talladega. That year also featured three more races for G2G in the Truck Series and seven more Cup Series starts in the Rick Ware Racing No. 15. The next season, Poole moved to the team he is still with today: Alpha Prime Racing.
So far, the highlights of the 35-year-old’s time at Alpha Prime Racing include top-5 finishes in the 2025 Martinsville Speedway and Rockingham Speedway events, a Dash 4 Cash appearance that same season, and a chance for redemption at Talladega in the 2024 spring race before losing to Jesse Love.
“He’s the best driver we’ve ever had,” Alpha Prime co-owner Tommy Joe Martins said to Jayski on Poole’s return for the 2026 season, “getting this done was priority one for us.”
Poole’s 2026 season is off to a strong start. In the first 10 races, he has only finished outside the top-20 once. With the O’Riley Series heading to Talladega, Brennan Poole has a chance to do the one thing he hasn’t done in his 200-start O’Riley career and win his first race.
Written by: Kevin Modeszto
