BRISTOL, Tenn. – There was plenty of smoke on the frontstretch of Bristol Motor Speedway after the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ 300-lap race there on Friday night, Sept. 12.
But it wasn’t only from the winner’s victory burnout.
Next to the Alpha Prime Racing haulers in the series’ garage was the distribution of numerous cigars, cutters and lighters – and they were being put to great use.
Tommy Joe Martins, the team’s owner and former driver, stood on top of the hauler lifter with stogie in mouth, smiling at his No. 44 Chevrolet. The machine’s driver, Brennan Poole, had just wheeled it to a 10th-place result at the Last Great Colosseum. In APR tradition, the group celebrated the top 10 with a puff of the tobacco torpedoes.
“Cigars are cheap, tires are expensive,” Martins told Frontstretch post-race. “We’re not worried about buying cigars. We’ll buy as many of them as we can buy, a sponsor would be great. I’m not worried about it. This is the best money we spend.”
After finishing eighth with Parker Retzlaff last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway, Friday marked the third top-10 result for APR in the last four races and its seventh of the year. It is by far the most successful season the team has had in its five-year history.
“I like where we’re at right now,” Martins continued. “I think everybody wants a little more. I think that’s pretty normal, and it’s really the consistency of it, right? It’s just doing this more and more, and I think the 44 team, this is now the fourth time or fifth time in a row they’ve run in the top 15 with two top 10s.
“At that point, you’re not just a little plucky upstart underdog anymore. You just are a good race car team.”
The night began as many usually do for Poole. After a decent qualifying effort, the No. 44 had ended up 18th on the race lineup. For a few laps, it appeared as though things were going as normal for Poole and APR.
However, it didn’t take long for things to change. By the end of the second stage, the Texan had worked his way into the top 10, earning stage points when he took the green-checkered flag in ninth.
He would stay in that position range for the rest of the evening. Amid all of the pit strategy and late-race incidents, Poole hovered around the bottom of the top 10, ultimately coming home 10th for his fifth top-10 finish of 2025.
“I think it would have been a surprise if we didn’t finish top 12 with the car, the way that it ran all day,” Martins said. “It was ninth in … stage two. It was inside the top 15 really the entire night, so you have to sit there and say nothing about that was a fluke, not a lot of attrition or anything like that.
“You don’t get five top 10s by accident. That doesn’t happen.”
Racing with APR is perhaps one of the best things that has happened to Poole. Since departing a competitive Chip Ganassi Racing ride in 2017, where he earned a whopping 34 top 10s and even eight top fives, Poole’s racing career has been nowhere near where it once was. The 34-year-old became a journeyman of NASCAR, competing in underfunded part-time rides across all three of the sport’s top three divisions, making starts where he could.
Then, only three years ago, his mother, who supported his racing career, passed away.
“I lost my mom three years ago unexpectedly, which is why I have the blonde hair, which is something cool that we did together over the summers,” Poole told reporters post-race. “I certainly miss her, and that part of it has changed me a little bit mentally.
“But I feel like I’m still fighting for my dream and doing what she wanted me to do.”
Enter Martins. The popular team owner and charismatic businessman signed Poole on to drive full-time in 2024, giving him his biggest break yet. The result has been two of the best seasons either of them have had in some time.
“I think the first part of my career and everything that’s happened to get me to this point all just kind of seems like a blur,” Poole continued. “It goes by so fast, you know, and I feel like I’m in the best place mentally I’ve been in a long time.”
Martins sees his company building into a true contender.
“I look at our entire organization as a whole today and how we performed, I’m really proud of it,” Martins said, cigar-in-hand. “I mean [we’re] just a good Xfinity Series team, and I think they want to be a playoff caliber, point-your-way-in type team, right?
“Maybe it’s not a win, but it’s like we want to be in the hunt, and I think that 44 group is pretty much proven that they can do that.”
Poole is continuing a streak of five-straight top-15 results and carries an average finish of 11.6, an unheard-of streak for young APR team that has it ending the 2025 season on a seemingly high note.
The group’s hoping for more in 2026. Both Poole and Martins have confirmed they’re working on extending their contract for another full-time effort next season.
“We’re talking through it right now,” Martins confirmed. “We’re trying to put it together. He wants to be here, and we want him here, so I expect it to get done.”
Poole agreed.
“I don’t have anything finalized yet, so we’ll see,” Poole confirmed. “But I’m happy where I’m at. I love driving the 44 car, and I believe you’ll probably see me in the 44 car again next year.”
Perhaps there are many more cigars yet to be had.
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loud column, co-host of the Frontstretch Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT