CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Brad Perez will compete part-time in the Alpha Prime Racing No. 45 car for this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season, beginning at Texas’ Circuit of the Americas.
Perez, a Florida native and first generation racer of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, will also serve the role of development driver for APR, assisting the team on the simulator, as well as participating in weekly race prep and serving as a reserve driver at the track on race weekends.
The reserve role won’t be anything new for Perez, who filled in for Leland Honeyman Jr. mid-race at Oregon’s Portland Int’l Raceway last summer.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to progress my career with Alpha Prime Racing,” Perez said. “This is a great environment for me to learn from veterans on this squad and show my talent. I’m excited to get to COTA in our Weiss Sand & Clay Camaro and have a good day and grow on what we accomplished at Road America last year.”
In 2023, Perez drove full time for multiple teams in the Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, making his first starts on ovals as well as scoring an Xfinity Series career-best finish of 19th at Wisconsin’s Road America for Alpha Prime Racing last summer.
When asked about the signing of Perez, APR Owner and General Manager Tommy Joe Martins talked about Perez’s fit within the organization.
“Brad passes the checklist of everything we look for in a driver,” Martins said. “He’s hard working, he’s had to do everything by himself his whole career from finding sponsors to learning how to work on cars to getting up to speed on the race track, he’s one of the nicest guys in the garage, and now having a chance to truly develop with us over the course of a year and call a place home – I think the sky is the limit for Brad. We love him.”
Martins went on to speak about the difficulty of qualifying in the Xfinity Series, something Perez has stepped up to do multiple times.
“It’s the first thing we talked about,” Martins said. “And that’s the thing about Brad, he’s not scared at all. He knows he’s going to be going to these racetracks having to qualify but he believes enough in himself and us as a team to put himself in the show.
“It’s really cool to have a guy with that level of confidence in himself and us. He’s been in that spot on other teams and he doesn’t shy away from it.”
Weiss Sand & Clay and APEX Coffee Roasters will serve as the sponsors for the team’s COTA effort.
“Weiss Sand and Clay is honored to team up with Alpha Prime and support Brad! As a smaller Texas business we appreciate who he is and what he brings to the track every day,” Eric Weiss of Weiss Sand & Clay said. “Brad’s the kind of guy who’ll put everything he has into what he does and we fully support him.”
“We are looking forward to this years race at COTA, which will mark our third year partnering with Brad,” Brett Jameson at APEX Coffee Roasters said. “The name and colors of Apex Coffee Roasters were chosen because of our love for racing.
“Brad’s dedication to his craft, and to his sponsors has been great to see, and we’ve enjoyed being a small part of his journey, and cant wait to see what this new season will bring for him.”
Additional races for Perez are still to be decided.