by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
Brad Perez picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career in Saturday’s Fleetio 200 at the Darlington Raceway when his unsponsored #38 RSS Racing Ford fell out with brake issues after he completed 21 of 147 laps.
The finish, which came in Perez’ 24th series start, was his second of the year and first since Sears Point, six races ago. In the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 26th for the #38, the 62nd from brake trouble, and the 181st for Ford. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it as the 66th for the #38, the 178th due to the brakes, and the 1,101st for Ford.
Saturday marked Perez’ first start since a disastrous weekend in Sears Point, where missing parts during a needed engine change kept him from even rolling off pit road. For Darlington, he would drive the RSS Racing team’s #38, the car number with which Ryan Sieg scored his long-awaited first career victory last Friday night in Daytona. This week, Sieg returned to his familiar #39, meaning the #38 would again adorn their unsponsored Ford, a car that has mostly been on “start-and-park” duty with both Logan Bearden and J.J. Yeley.
Perez was one of many drivers announced to their ride late in the week, and would again be the only Ford in the race. As his spotter would report before the start of the race, Perez’ car looked nearly identical to the #28 Chevrolet of teammate Kyle Sieg, who carried sponsorship from Night Owl Companies. Curiously, Saturday marked the announcement that Alpha Prime Racing would field at least two full-time Ford teams in 2027.
In practice, Perez ran the slowest lap of the session at 34.656 seconds (141.898mph), six-tenths of second off 37th-place Glen Reen in the #53 New Wave Bath Toyota and nearly four-and-a-half seconds off session leader Parker Retzlaff in the #99 Funkaway Chevrolet. The qualifying metric, swayed by Sieg’s win, moved Perez to 23rd in the qualifying order, where he capitalized by gaining two spots from practice, clocking in at 32.230 seconds (152.578mph).
The two teams Perez beat were 37th-place Reen and 38th and last-place Dawson Cram in Mike Harmon Racing’s redecorated #47 KalesUSA.com / True Organic Products, Inc. Chevrolet. Cram, who ranked 36th in practice, was the only driver to not complete a lap in qualifying. He later tweeted that the adjuster on his lap belts had broken, and the crew needed to install a new set of belts for the race. This did not hand him a redundant tail-end penalty. Instead, Perez was one of four drivers docked for unapproved adjustments, joining 8th-place Brent Crews in the #19 Mobil 1 Toyota, 15th-place Jeremy Clements in the #51 Hub City Spartanburgers / Spartan Waste Chevrolet, and 30th-place Ryan Ellis in the #02 JD Steel Chevrolet.
When the green flag dropped, Perez was last across the stripe, 3.900 seconds back of the lead behind 37th-place Reen (3.546), 36th-place Cram (3.496), and 35th-place Ellis (3.259), then Clements in 34th (3.106), and Crews 32nd (2.927) ahead of 33rd-place Joey Gase in the #55 We Are Sharing Hope SC Chevrolet (2.955). At the end of Lap 1, Perez was now 6.363 seconds back of the lead and within two-tenths of Reen. Perez pulled alongside Reen and inched ahead of him by the start of Lap 3, the #53 showing 8.462 seconds back to Perez’ 8.407. Perez built up a four-tenths of a second gap by Lap 4, then nearly a full second by Lap 5. The next time by, Cram climbed past Jake Finch, who was reportedly having engine trouble on JR Motorsports’ #9 Jarrett Logistics Chevrolet. This moved Cram to 35th and Finch back to 36th with Perez still 37th and Reen 38th.
By Lap 8, Reen was 17.021 seconds back of the lead, just over a full second behind 37th-place Perez at a 15.930. This grew by another three-tenths over the next two laps, and by Lap 12, Reen was 21.735 seconds behind the leader. On Lap 14, Finch retook the 35th spot from Cram while Reen closed up on Perez their interval cut to about four-tenths once more with Reen shown 25.206 behind the lead. But on Lap 17, Perez got past Cram into 36th, dropping Cram to within a half-second of Reen, and Lap 20 saw Perez take 35th from Garrett Smithley in the #0 Knight Fire Protection Chevrolet.
Then came a chaotic Lap 22, where Cram suddenly plummeted to last place, pulling to the apron. He radioed that the brake fan harness had caught fire, and the driver somehow stamped it out while staying on track. While he lost lap, Cram didn’t pit, only to see Perez pull down pit road and into the garage. Perez took last on Lap 24, radioing his team he had to “call it quickly, I thought I was gonna wreck.” By then, Cram had made it to pit road to address his issue, dropping him two laps down along with Ryan Ellis, who made an unscheduled stop of his own in the #02. Cram returned to the track, only to have NASCAR tell him to pick up his speed on Lap 27 as the spotter navigated him through faster traffic. On Lap 29, NASCAR black-flagged Cram, who came in for further adjustments. Ellis, now five laps down in 37th, pulled into the garage on Lap 30, and the team monitored if Perez and Cram were done for the day.
On Lap 32, Cram’s team tried to get the remaining tires from Ellis’ team. The crew addressed a sick-sounding engine, then by Lap 38 asked the driver if it sounded any better. “Yeah, it sounded like shit before,” he answered. The team prepared to return to the track, though Cram felt he might lose the brake pedal without a functioning brake fan. He came back onto the track on Lap 39, clocking a delayed lap time of 627.931 seconds, or about 10 minutes and 30 seconds. He was also handed a penalty for a crew member over the wall too soon. But on Lap 42, shortly after a restart following Preston Pardus’ crash off Turn 4 in the #92 Chinchor Electric Chevrolet, Cram pulled behind the wall again, having turned just six more laps than Ellis. On Lap 60, NASCAR declared Perez, Ellis, and Cram out of the race.
Completing the Bottom Five were both the #53 of Reen and Mason Maggio in the #91 BTS Tire & Wheel Distributors Chevrolet. Both were collected in a wreck on the backstretch after Jeb Burton’s #27 Capital City Towing Chevrolet was spun by Nick Sanchez’ #87 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet. When Burton’s car slid up into traffic, Reen collided with Burton, and Maggio, who lost multiple laps early after he bounced off the outside wall, struck the car of Reen. Burton finished on the same lap as Reen in 33rd.
Alfredo and Clements shine among Chase combatants
For only the fourth time this season, Anthony Alfredo led laps in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race. This time, he led a season-high nine laps after taking the lead from Carson Kvapil and stormed to a win in Stage 2. Only a bad pit stop under the ensuing caution dropped him back in the lineup, where he ultimately came home in 6th. Joining him in the Top Ten was Jeremy Clements, who recovered from his tail-end penalty at the start to come home 9th at his home track.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #38 in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Darlington.
*Perez is the first driver to finish last in an O’Reilly race at Darlington due to brake issues since March 26, 1988, when Davey Allison’s #28 Havoline Ford fell out after 3 laps.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #38-Brad Perez / 21 laps / brakes
37) #02-Ryan Ellis / 23 laps / clutch
36) #47-Dawson Cram / 29 laps / electrical
35) #91-Mason Maggio / 69 laps / crash
34) #53-Glen Reen / 73 laps / crash
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) RSS Racing (5)
2nd) DGM Racing x JIM, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport, Mike Harmon Racing, Young’s Motorsports (2)
3rd) AM Racing, Big Machine Racing, Haas Factory Team, Hendrick Motorsports, Hettinger Racing, JR Motorsports, Sam Hunt Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Viking Motorsports (1)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (17)
2nd) Ford (6)
3rd) Toyota (1)
2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
