Brad Perez comes to the rescue in Portland

Brad Perez has been working his way through the stock car ladder since his ARCA debut with Josh Williams Motorsport in 2021 and has since raced in both the NASCAR Craftsmen Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. This year Perez is racing a four-race schedule with Emerling-Gase Motorsport while also helping out on their pit crew.

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i was given the opportunity by @TommyJoeMartins and @TeamAlphaPrime to bring this thing home and i didn't do my job. i'll be better. i learned a lot and i'll be grateful for any time i ever hop in a race car.

im sorry to frank, peyton, chris, clate and everyone pic.twitter.com/IkGI4ZdIU6

— bread perez (@bradxperez) June 4, 2023

Going into the Xfinity round at Portland, Perez was slated to help out on the Emerling-Gase pit crew, changing tires for the #53 car. But as the weekend progressed, it looked like plans might change. But luckily, he was prepared.

"I had all my gear, all my stuff. Usually, for any race that I run or any race that I go to that I’m approved for, I go ahead and bring all my stuff no matter what." Perez said. "This weekend, it even helped more because we are at Sonoma next week and the hauler is going with it, so I had to bring all my stuff and had everything all set and ready to go for Sonoma, I mean I had my hero cards and everything."

It would turn out that his preparation would pay off. An unfortunate fight with food poisoning befell #43 Alpha Prime Racing driver Leland Honeyman Jr., and, as luck would have it, Perez was there to go on standby.

"I’m setting the tires the morning of the race, as I’m about to go in the hauler to get my radio and all my stuff, so I can put on my gear," Perez said. "I get a call from Tommy Joe [Martin], and he's just like, ‘Hey, I need you. Do you have your stuff?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah’. He goes, ‘Well I need you to fill in the 43 car because I think Leland is going to be out because he's sick’. So he is like, ‘When practice and qualifying come up, I need you to get your suit on and need you on pit road and on standby for us.’ "

Perez was ready to race, but he still had some pit crew duties to take care of over at Emerling-Gase.

"And uh, funny enough, uh, I was in the hauler with the Emerling-Gase crew, and they all were like, ‘Why is Tommy Joe calling?’. Then after that, I was like, ‘Hey guys can I like… get out of working practice real quick’, I didn't want to be rude and just be like, "Hey, see you guys you’re on your own." Perez said. "‘I set my tires and stuff and kind of did everything I could do before I had to stand by Leland's pit while he practiced and qualified. He did a really good job overall. Then once quali was over, Tommy was like, ‘All right, still need you to stand by for the race, just in case.’ I was thinking it wasn't really going to happen, little did I know."

As the first stage break came, it was decided that Honeyman Jr. was going to come out and Perez was going to hop in for the remaining laps.

"When I hopped in the car the first time, it was under caution, so I kind of went around, you know, felt it out." Perez said. "I hadn't been in a car since Martinsville, and I’ve been in Xfinity car since COTA So I just kind of felt it out when the restart happened, I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m going to go like 70%’. But it was a lot easier because there were cars right in front of me, so I could judge off of them. Basically, I was copying everybody else. Then after a while, I started getting a little faster and, and, ended up doing pretty well."

Perez gained a fair few positions after inheriting the car. He was running 26th at the second stage break and going into the final laps was poised for a top 15. Unfortunately, last-lap contact threw him into the tire barrier, and he finished P28 with damage.

Perez is scheduled to race in Xfinity at Sonoma next week for Emerling-Gase in the #53. Sonoma would be the fourth race of his four-race schedule with Emerling-Gase but more may be on the horizon this year beyond that.

"There are two more currently scheduled, I’m not going to say yet, but yeah, it could be more so just trying to get some partnerships going. I really want to do all the road courses. I want to do all of ’em, even Mid-Ohio trucks, so we are trying to get that going."