Once a multi-car Xfinity Series program, BJ McLeod Motorsports is narrowing its focus until it can become a consistent, top-15 team.
“Right now and for the foreseeable future — I’m saying years — I just want to be a one-car team that can run well every week,” BJ McLeod said during a media session Tuesday.
There were glimpses of this competitiveness in 2023 as BJMM primarily fielded the No. 78 Chevrolet instead of two or three cars at a time. Anthony Alfredo, the team’s full-time driver, qualified inside the top 10 at Daytona and Talladega. He scored top-10 finishes at Daytona and Martinsville.
There were just too many DNFs and on-track incidents.
“Anthony had top-15 speed the first, probably, 10 to 12 races,” McLeod said. “We ran in the top 20 all the time. We got up as high as 12th a couple of times, then — I do not like admitting that there’s luck — but he just had a run of bad luck, I guess.
“We ended up with damage in like 14 races straight and it just really hurts a small team like ours. We fought that in ’22 also and it got us a little bit behind. So the speed was lacking there at the end of the year.”
Running inside of the top 20 gave McLeod a glimpse of what is possible. No longer does he want to run 25th-28th each week of the Xfinity season, nor does he want to focus on multiple cars.
McLeod wants to have a single car that is capable of running well all 33 weeks of the season. He also wants to build up his infrastructure so that the team can make it through times of struggle without giving up any speed like it has in the past.
McLeod has been an Xfinity Series owner since the 2016. He has run multiple cars while working with such drivers as Tommy Joe Martins, Jordan Anderson, Jeff Green, Matt Mills, Angela Ruch, Ryan Preece, Jesse Little, Kevin Harvick, Chase Briscoe and Stefan Parsons among others.
These drivers combined for 10 top-10 finishes before the 2023 season, the first with the primary focus on only one car. Alfredo added two more while posting an average finish of 24.1 and leading 24 laps, the second-most in team history.
Alfredo finished 20th in the Xfinity championship standings. This was the team’s best mark by a full-time driver since McLeod finished 20th in 2016.
"(Anthony) brought a great group of guys over to our shop during the offseason last year,” McLeod said. “He’s an excellent driver. He’s got a ton of speed.”
Alfredo will not be part of the team in 2024. He has other opportunities that he will pursue in 2024. McLeod and BJMM will move forward with a different driver behind the wheel. This search is ongoing.
Regardless of who takes over the No. 78, the goal will remain the same for McLeod and BJMM — just be competitive.