Few organizations in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series outkick their coverage as consistently as Alpha Prime Racing. In 2027, the two-car team will switch to Ford, hoping the manufacturer change can help turn those flashes of performance into another step forward.
As Alpha Prime makes the jump to Ford, team leaders Tommy Joe Martins, Caesar Bacarella and Jusan Hamilon can finally say it is official after exploring this change since 2025. And when both AM Racing and Hettinger Racing didn’t complete the full 2026 campaign, it allowed Alpha Prime to promptly make the jump.
“I think we’re the type of team that they were looking for having a presence in this series with,” Martins, co-owner, told Jayski.com. “The pursuit was on our side. It wasn’t like Ford or Roush Yates pursued us – that didn’t happen. We went to them and presented an opportunity about potentially the future of our company looking like this with Ford.”
When speaking with Ford brass, Martins didn’t want to promise something he couldn’t deliver. Alpha Prime operates independently, deep in the Chevrolet pipeline. The resources it has received are miniscule compared to even other smaller organizations.
By swapping to Ford, Alpha Prime jumps to the top of the line in terms of getting any support. Another key element is the team’s equipment was beginning to get dated and Ford had more top-tier assets available than Chevrolet.
“It’s really simple to me with math: anything is better than zero,” Martins said of potential support. “We have not gone to Ford with our hat in hand saying, you need to be doing this, this and this for us to be a winning team. I’m not looking for Ford to carry us across the line or piggyback off of Ford or Roush Yates. It’s about a partnership and business operations for us. We’re not changing a whole lot about what we’re doing.
“I’m not expecting them to give us sim all the time. What we want is a pathway to get to that, which right now in the Chevy camp, there is no pathway. There are too many roosters in the henhouse.”
Ford’s primary responsibilities still remain with the Cup Series and Craftsman Truck Series.
“We welcome Alpha Prime and look forward to watching their progress,” Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Racing, said in a statement provided to Jayski. “We have been open with them regarding our support. Our NASCAR priorities continue to be in the Cup and Truck Series.”
The equipment swap will be intriguing for Martins. The organization has 12 chassis, and whenever one of them is involved in a crash moving forward, it will be converted to a Ford body. That will save time at the end of the season, not pivoting everything at once.
Both Brennan Poole and Lavar Scott ran Fords at World Wide Technology Raceway, and the No. 44 car will adorn the Blue Oval again this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“All of our people do a great job of punching above our weight class, but how can we upgrade our equipment from a motor standpoint, car standpoint, resources standpoint but also not break the bank?” Martins pondered. “Ultimately, this was the opportunity for that. It’s other people selling and other people getting out of that pipeline and that creates a situation where you can buy pretty low.”
If Alpha Prime proves successful through the transition, Martins believes other independent teams could follow suit. But for Alpha Prime, the motivation behind the move remains unchanged.
“We are trying to be Alpha Prime Racing, which has consistently been the team that has done the most with the least amount of resources of anybody in NASCAR,” Martins noted. “For our budget and being an independent team, we are consistently finishing in the top 20 in points and more top 10s, top fives than any other team. That’s not changing.”
The primary emphasis for Martins in this change is to get marketing support. He wants his drivers to be noticed more within the scope of the NASCAR landscape and push the business side of Alpha Prime forward further. He considers this direction “future-looking” and finding an identity, with the expectation of continued growth.
“In three or four years, we want to be established with some trust from a manufacturer where if we’re not the only Ford team, we’re still well respected and thought of as a Ford team,” Martins said. “I feel like, at times, I’ve been shouting into the void like, ‘Hey somebody notice that we’re doing good.’ It’s interesting to hear other people that have done it with organizations that have more money than us and they look at how we’re operating and think we’re doing a nice job. That tells me there’s probably another level for us to go to and that’s really exciting.”
Many of Martins’ colleagues have questioned his decision. He knows that with or without changing anything, the ceiling internally is about 15th-place on speed, regardless of the race track. After that, it’s primarily Cup teams with O’Reilly programs or affiliate teams.
Alpha Prime vows to remain the David among Goliaths in the immediate future. A transaction like this won’t put the organization out of business, as it’s proven it can survive in the deep end constantly since Martins started Martins Motorsports in 2020.
“I feel like this is exactly the move we need to make,” Martins concluded. “We feel like we’re stepping our motor program up, but it’s not doubling our budget. It’s an increase, no doubt, but it’s not this overwhelming burden that we’re taking on and I think that’s where guys have made mistakes with this. Ultimately, you start lying to yourself.
“I think this step forward that we’re making is us just keeping up with where everybody is stepping up with affiliations and other stuff they have going on. I needed a way to make our team more relevant in the series. What we want to do is put our team in the best position in multiple ways and that’s what this whole thing is about.”
Alpha Prime will continue to sporadically enter Fords into the final six races of the 2026 campaign before fully moving over in 2027.