ARCA Champ Perez Joins Roper Racing For Phoenix

Andres Perez (Nigel Kinrade photo)

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Recently-crowned ARCA Menards Series national champion Andrez Perez de Lara will have a return shot in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to close out his season.

Perez, who wrapped up the ARCA title in October at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway with Rev Racing, will drive the No. 04 Chevrolet Silverado RST at Arizona’s Phoenix Raceway for Roper Racing and veteran team owner Cory Roper.

It will mark the second career Truck Series start for Perez, who debuted at the national level back in June at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., with Spire Motorsports.

Bruce Cook will serve as crew chief of the No. 04, which will carry sponsorship from CARQUEST and Group 1001, the parent company of Rev Racing anchor sponsor Gainbridge.

“At Roper Racing, I’ve always enjoyed getting to work with younger guys and give them an opportunity to step up into the Truck Series to understand what it’s like at this level,” explained Roper. “We’re excited to have the opportunity to do that with Andres this weekend and look forward to having him with our team. He was strong all year in the ARCA car and really did a great job taking care of his equipment, and we hope he can do the same this weekend to help give us a solid run to end our year on.”

Perez rode a wave of consistency this season en route to his first ARCA championship. Despite going winless on the year due to the dominance of fellow young stars William Sawalich and Connor Zilisch, Perez still earned 10 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes in 20 races, as well as two General Tire Pole Awards.

He impressed at Gateway in his Truck Series debut, starting 16th and finishing ninth, and Perez hopes to be able to have similar success at Phoenix while keeping his nose clean as the series’ championship battle swirls around him.

“I appreciate Cory and everyone at Roper Racing for the chance to come back to the Truck Series,” said Perez. “This level is the next step I want to get to as a driver, so any opportunity to step up is valuable for me. I’m working on me plans [for 2025], so hopefully we can run well at Phoenix and build toward next year in a good way.”

Roper Racing’s No. 04 entry has earned three top-25 finishes this season, doing so twice with Roper himself at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and adding a similar effort with Marco Andretti at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in late July.

Andretti was originally slated to pilot the Roper Racing truck at Phoenix when NASCAR’s preliminary entry list came out Monday, prior to a Tuesday update which confirmed Perez would take the reins.

Broadcast coverage of the season finale Craftsman 150 is slated for Friday night, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

About Roper Racing

Roper Racing is a family-owned NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race team based in Mont Belvieu, Texas, whose mission statement is “We build as a team and race as a team.”

The organization is owned by Vernon, Texas, native Cory Roper, who debuted as an owner-driver in 2018 and has fielded multiple drivers aboard the No. 04 Chevrolet Silverado over the past six years.

Roper Racing’s standout moment to-date came during the 2021 Truck Series opener at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway, when Roper earned the team’s best finish of third in a three-wide, near-photo finish at the World Center of Racing.

Other drivers to pilot a Roper Racing entry since the team’s inception include Alabama veteran Roger Reuse, as well as past Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter and young stars like Kaden Honeycutt, Chase Briscoe, Spencer Davis, Landen Lewis, and Clayton Green.

NTT IndyCar Series veteran and 2022 Superstar Racing Experience champion Marco Andretti contested a part-time schedule with Roper Racing this year, transitioning toward full-time stock car racing under the guidance of veteran crew chief Bruce Cook.

For more information on Roper Racing, visit the team’s website at https://roperracingteam.com/.