Fresh off a second-place finish in the ARCA Menards Series West championship, Blaine Perkins will race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the first time. On Monday, Our Motorsports announced Perkins will drive their #03 Chevrolet Camaro on a part-time basis in 2021. He will make his series début at Martinsville in April and is expected to run at least five more races with the potential for more pending sponsorship.
“Since I started racing go-karts 10 years ago, racing has been a huge part of my life,” said Perkins in a statement. “I’m ready to take the next step in ym career and I look forward to gaining as much experience & knowledge as I can in the 2021 season.”
Perkins began racing in the West Series as a 15-year-old in 2015. He ran the full series schedule in 2016 and 2017 for Steve Portenga Racing, scoring a best finish of fifth at Colorado National Speedway in 2016 and a best points placement of ninth that year. 2017 also saw him make his debut in the national ARCA series for Mason Mitchell Motorsports, finishing ninth at Kentucky.
Although Perkins did not contest any West races in 2018 and 2019 as he chased track titles in Southern California, he ran four ARCA events during the former season with another top ten at Elko. His 2019 season saw him win the track championships at Irwindale Speedway and Kern County Raceway Park as he clinched the state’s title in what is now the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.
He returned to the West Series in 2020 for Sunrise Ford Racing, winning his first series race at Utah Motorsports Campus after leading every lap. Another clean sweep came two races later at Evergreen, followed by leading 135 of 150 laps to win in the following day’s race at Douglas County. Perkins battled with Jesse Love for the ARCA West title throughout the year, but an engine failure in the season finale at Phoenix doomed his chances as he finished 25 points behind Love.
Perkins will serve as a team-mate to Brett Moffitt; while his full schedule was not revealed, he will run at least six races beginning at Martinsville in April. Two-time Xfinity champion Tyler Reddick will kick off the #03’s season at Daytona, while Whelen Modified Tour veteran Patrick Emerling is also slated to run races in the car. Our Motorsports, a regular on the ARCA and Modified circuit in the past, is in their second season of Xfinity competition. Moffitt and Andy Lally hold the team’s best race finishes in the series to date with fifth-place runs at Talladega (Moffitt), Road America, and the Daytona road course (Lally).
“It’s both an honor and a privilege to make my NASCAR national series debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2021 with Our Motorsports,” Perkins added on social media. “My first race at Martinsville Speedway can’t get here fast enough!”
