Speaking to FanSided's Beyond the Flag during the early stages of the 2023 O'Reilly Auto Parts Series (then Xfinity Series) season, his first season as a full-time driver in the series (although he did miss two races), Ryan Ellis, then competing for Alpha Prime Racing, addressed the possibility of returning to the Cup Series.
The Torrance, California native had returned to the Cup Series for one start with Rick Ware Racing at Kansas Speedway in 2021, after having made five starts in 2015 and 2016 for three different organizations in Circle Sport, BK Racing, and Premium Motorsports. All six of his finishes were between 32nd and 40th.
He gave us a pretty clear answer when asked if he would ever want to return.
"I always joke that going back to the Cup Series is my nightmare," Ellis admitted. "I’m a racer at the end of the day and I want to drive a car that’s extremely competitive. In the Cup Series, the opportunities for one-off races are in cars that aren’t necessarily in the same competitive standpoint that we’re at in the Xfinity Series."
It would have been easy to hear that and think "okay, sure", and jump to the conclusion that this guy was going to snatch up the first opportunity he could to get back to competing on Sundays.
Take a look at J.J. Yeley's path, for example. After several years of running for backmarker Cup Series teams, including Rick Ware Racing, he announced before the 2024 season that he did not plan on returning and would instead be focused on landing an Xfinity Series ride with a team capable of competing for top 10 finishes on a semi-regular basis.
Skip ahead to the actual 2024 season, and he ended up with a part-time team in NY Racing Team. Unfortunately, as one might have expected, he has struggled. He has since gone 0-for-3 in Daytona 500 qualifying attempts and has yet to finish higher than 23rd in 21 appearances behind the wheel of the No. 44 Chevrolet. The 2026 season is his 22nd season in the series and 10th in a row.
Sure, no two drivers' circumstances are the same. But as for Ellis, he has committed to what he said in 2023, and the fact that he has backed up every word has led him to achieve new heights over the past year or so.
Ryan Ellis' perseverance pays off
In 2024, again competing for Alpha Prime Racing, he improved from 25th to 23rd in the point standings with 75 additional points, and he matched his career-high finish of 11th place at Talladega Superspeedway the year before with an 11th place effort in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
In 2025, Ellis moved to DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports, and in his first race with the team, which was his 132nd career start in his 13th year of series competition, he led 11 laps in the season opener at Daytona, after having led just two laps in his career up to that point.
And in career start number 144 later in the season, he secured his first career top 10 finish in the series – or in any NASCAR national series, for that matter – with an eighth place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
How I envisioned pit road after my first top 10 pic.twitter.com/lXjwBnc4ni
— Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) May 25, 2025
The 36-year-old has since moved to Young's Motorsports for the 2026 season, as the organization expanded to field the No. 02 Chevrolet, in addition to the No. 42 Chevrolet they have entered since entering the series in 2024, following their departure from the Craftsman Truck Series.
In his first ever race in the No. 02 car, Ellis finished sixth, bettering his career-best of eighth from Charlotte a year ago, and for the first time in his NASCAR career, he finds himself in the top 10 in the point standings – six points ahead of the way-too-early provisional postseason cut line – to start off his 14th season of O'Reilly Auto Parts Series competition.
P.6.
— Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) February 15, 2026
What a race. So freaking proud of my @youngsmtrsports team and so happy we could do it with @TabloTV on board.
At a loss for words beyond that 😂, hopefully I can put out something with more punch later.
Career best in our first race with YMS. Gonna enjoy this one. pic.twitter.com/A4Uhu5LkNz
Suffice it to say that Ellis has never been having as much fun driving a stock car as he has been over the past year or so, and the 2026 season began on his highest note yet.
As for a potential Cup return, why would it even be on his radar at this point? Only in a nightmare, perhaps.
The second race on the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule is also a drafting race, and it's scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 21 at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway). Live coverage of the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 is set to be provided by the CW Network starting at 5:00 p.m. ET. Begin a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any of the action!