Perez Readies For First Back-To-Back Starts In Xfinity

Brad Perez (Scotte Sprinkle/Race Face Digital photo)

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Brad Perez is set to run back-to-back weekends in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the first time in his career at Martinsville Speedway.

Perez comes from a road racing background, honing his talents in the Mazda Global MX-5 Cup, but has made 18 starts across NASCAR’s national touring series thus far, though most of them have been at road courses.

While road courses are his forte, the Hollywood, Fla., native has been getting experience on ovals as well. Saturday’s Marine Corps 250 at Martinsville is set to be his second race in a row for Alpha Prime Racing.

“It does mean a lot to go back-to-back,” said Perez. “Really have to thank KSDT for making it happen and Alpha Prime Racing for trusting me to do it. We’ve been working hard with the [No.] 45 group. We’ve gotten better, and it’s not even just saying that – we really have gotten better in the shop and at the racetrack.

“It’s been positive. I can’t say that we don’t have our low points and kind of struggle with the identity crisis of feeling like we should run better, because it does suck running in the high 20s and almost 30th,” he admitted. “But that reassurance that we are striving to do a lot better and that we’re not okay running as far back as we are, that gives me the confidence to not be complacent, and [team co-owner] Tommy Joe [Martins] puts that in us too.

“The [No.] 4 team has been running really well and the [No.] 44 continuously runs well. The [No.] 45 seems to sometimes be the red-headed stepchild, but we’re doing a lot with the little that we have.”

While Perez raced last weekend at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, he also attempted to qualify at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas earlier this year. Unfortunately, Perez failed to qualify for the race, as well as his teammate Parker Retzlaff.

Martins called it “the worst day in company history” and apologized to both Retzlaff and Perez. Both Alpha Prime and Perez have rebounded since then, though.

“I think the biggest thing is accountability,” Perez said of his miss at COTA. “I can’t say that I was perfect that day. I can’t say the crew was perfect that day, or week. There were a lot of things that were not perfect. While you don't have to be perfect, you need to fire on all cylinders. It’s the hardest series to run in right now, to even show up every single week.

“A lot of looking in the mirror (and) a lot of changes went on behind the scenes, and it showed. Just that and even the next week after in Phoenix with Mason Massey, he did an amazing job there,” noted Perez. “This is the same car that Mason drove at Phoenix and Las Vegas. I think that accountability is what makes teams get better, and without it, we would still be running bad and probably breaking every week.”

Brad Perez during qualifying at Martinsville Speedway Friday. (Scotte Sprinkle/Race Face Digital photo)

Perez finished 35th in practice and qualified 32nd, right behind his teammates Brennan Poole (29th) and Retzlaff (27th). The big thing, however, is that he made the race as one of the top 32 on speed instead of having to worry about whether or not he’d get in on an owner points provisional.

“I have probably done three entire short track qualifying [runs] in my entire life and I suck at them,” Perez said after qualifying. “I went off into [turn] one and I picked the two-and-a-half [cones] on the wall and I [braked], and I feel like I made the corner pretty good. I got to the bottom too quick, and I snapped [loose] exit. I figured I needed to use a little more roll speed, so I tried to do that in [turns] three and four. Pretty good first lap. Second lap I nailed turns one and two finally, then I went into [turns] three and four and completely lost the rear of the car. I went four-wheel slide, completely off [line]. It actually ended up pretty alright, all things considered.

“Our strength is the long run, which is going to be 80 percent of [the race] tomorrow,” he continued. “It’s the complete opposite of last week. Last week I felt like we were the worst long run car but the best short run car. I’m actually glad the tables have turned. The scoreboard don’t mean nothing [sic] today. Tomorrow, I think we’re in good shape.”

Saturday’s race will mark Perez’s 14th career NASCAR Xfinity Series start and sixth for Alpha Prime. His career best finish to-date is 18th at Circuit of the Americas in March 2024.

To catch Perez and the rest of the NASCAR Xfinity Series in action at Martinsville Speedway, tune in to the Marine Corps 250 at 5 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.