O’REILLY: Missing backup engine parts prevent Brad Perez from starting race in Sonoma

by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Brad Perez picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career in Saturday’s Pit Boss / FoodMaxx 250 at the Sonoma Raceway when his #55 Baker Family Wines Toyota failed to complete any of the 79 laps due to fuel pump issues.

The finish, which came in Perez’ 23rd series start, was his first of the season and first in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race since August 12, 2023 at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit, 96 races ago. In the O’Reilly last-place rankings, it was the 11th from a fuel pump, the 14th for the #55, and the 173rd for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 39th from the fuel pump, the 63rd for the #55, and the 439th for Toyota.

Perez remains a fan favorite among the young up-and-coming drivers in NASCAR. In the three years since he was last featured here, he’s raced primarily in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for underfunded teams like Alpha Prime Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, Young’s Motorsports, and Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen. In that time, he’s earned a career-best 18th-place finish at COTA in 2024, site of his Truck Series debut in 2022. He’s predominately run on road courses – which he nicknames “Squiggly Season” – but has also branched out on the ovals. This has also made him both a successful spotter and relief driver. Twice this season, he’s climbed aboard Young’s #42 entry – both at COTA for J.J. Yeley and at Bristol for Logan Bearden. He’s also carried the LASTCAR.info logo at the Sonoma track – both on the rear deck in the Truck Series in 2022 and on both b-pillars in O’Reilly in 2023.

Perez on the grid during practice and qualifying on Friday.

When I caught up with Perez after last Saturday’s race in San Diego, his first for sponsor Sacred Dose Energy Pouches, he was pleased with his 19th-place finish and excited to announce an upcoming sponsorship for Saturday’s race at Sears Point. Soon after came word that he’d be sponsored by Baker Family Wines, co-owned by legendary championship MLB coach Dusty Baker, along with returning sponsorship from Refology. Both brands would join forces on a teal #55 Toyota on a weekend where Baker would serve as Grand Marshal for Sunday’s race at the Sonoma track. Baker’s name was on the passenger side name rail, and the car carried additional backing from other companies, including Casa Mani Resort, Alarm Tech Services, Inc., Bleacher Report Racing, Mystik Lubricants, FlexPower, and Team Schuler. As with other small teams that ran last week, having kept his car in one piece in San Diego, Perez was assured he’d be able to battle for position in Sonoma.

*The first sign of issues for Perez on Friday during qualifying.*

Perez was one of 38 drivers entered for as many starting spots, so all were guaranteed a place in the field. In opening practice, he ranked 31st with six completed laps, putting up a best time of 79.011 seconds (90.671mph). He then lined up next-to-last on the grid for qualifying, parked alongside the #35 Mai Tai International Chevrolet of Dawson Cram. But before the session started, he pulled forward, completed a three-point turn, and drove to the O’Reilly garage, where he parked behind the team’s hauler at the far end of the paddock. The crew started working under the hood, bringing out large wrenches to address something on the front of the engine. While ranked 17th in the qualifying order, he didn’t participate in Qualifying Round 1A and secured the 38th and final starting spot.

*Austin Green’s car towed “hammock style” to the garage after a brutal practice wreck on Friday.*

The only other driver to not participate in qualifying was Austin Green, who during opening practice suffered a terrifying accident. Entering Turn 11, his brake pedal went to the floor. And though he tried to spin the car rear-first into the barrier, it instead struck with the left-front, scattering tire stacks and separating the concrete barrier on the other side. Green walked away without serious injury and in the garage spoke with his father, NASCAR official David Green, before he spoke with me. The Peterson Racing Group’s only other car was the one Green steered to an 8th-place finish in San Diego, so the team had to make other arrangements. They worked out a deal with Richard Childress Racing, which offered Austin Hill’s backup – so long as the RCR teams didn’t need it. They didn’t, so Green’s crew set to work, adding violet-colored decals to the white backup by Saturday morning.

*Green’s backup car on Saturday morning, using Austin Hill’s backup car at RCR.*

On race morning, the teams pushed their cars from the garage to the pit road nose-to-tail. Green’s backup car was last in line near the Turn 12 apex, but remained in the 37th spot. Perez’ 38th-place car was still in the O’Reilly garage, where it was now parked perpendicular to the team’s hauler on four jack stands, its four wheels removed, and the hood still up. An engine hoist was also staged nearby. According to a member of the team, the crew was trying to change engines, but the spare – built by a different engine builder than their primary – was missing too many parts, including the fuel pump. They did somehow manage to fire the engine for a moment, then shut it off and continued their work. Among those who came by to help were Mike Harmon, whose #35 for driver Dawson Cram was again entered under the Gase banner. Shortly after he arrived, the crew bolted on all four wheels.

*Repairs continue on Perez’ car on Saturday morning, the car now on jack stands.*

The race was scheduled to start approximately 2:40 P.M. Pacific time. About 47 minutes before that, the car was still on jack stands, but Perez went to driver introductions in his Apex Coffee Roasters uniform. Gase discussed their issue with a NASCAR official. With 36 minutes to go, Gase climbed into the car, then grabbed for something in the rear of the cockpit. The crew then jacked up the left sides and eased it off the left-side jack stands. Two minutes later, when driver introductions ended, the car was back on the ground, and with 32 minutes to go, the crew reattached the air cleaner to the top of the engine. With 28 minutes to go, the crew dropped the hood and Gase asked which direction to get to the grid. “Peterson said go down the hill,” said an official, directing to the main entrance that ended between the main grandstands and the media center. Gase then climbed behind the wheel, put on the steering wheel, and his crew pushed him toward pit exit. Gase got the car stopped on pit road, where the crew backed it into the open space behind Green’s #87. Perez was waiting there, passing the time by taking some humorous pictures as he mimed sitting behind the wheel of an invisible car. Just seconds later, the crew lined up for the performance of the National Anthem.

*Gase in the driver’s cockpit working on something in the rear of the car as the team lowers No. 55 off the jack stands.*

*Perez’ crew hurriedly push the car out of the garage.*

*Gase rolls the car past the media center to pit road.*

*The car is pushed to the back of the line.*

*The crew gets the car positioned in the 38th spot.*

*Perez stands by the car in the last spot on the grid.*

*Perez’ crew watching intently after the command to start engines.*

When the command to start engines was given, only a couple of Gase’s crew members were in the team’s pit stall, located in Stall 40 on the Turn 11 side. Most of the others were standing directly across from Perez’ car at the angle of Turn 12, watching intently. This video I shot from pit road chronicles what happened next, starting right after the command. Gase was still standing by the driver’s window along with a couple crew members. At the same time, a NASCAR official went up to the last few cars in line, signaling each driver was ready to participate. By then, a crew member from SS-Green Light Racing had also arrived. Perez’ window net was down, and the engine hadn’t fired. About three minutes after the command, Green pulled away from a stopped Perez to join the rest of the field. A STEPPS push truck arrived to give Perez a push, his window net still down. Perez turned to the left and coasted to the garage entrance from which he’d exited just minutes before. The truck followed, and there was an audible crunch as the truck pressed against the rear bumper of Perez’ car, pushing it uphill toward the garage. The truck pushed him the rest of the way, the car stopped nose-first aiming at the back fence to the garage. Perez climbed out, done for the day. He changed into his street clothes, including a 2004 Brendan Gaughan / #77 Kodak Film Dodge t-shirt, and watched the race from pit road. Both Perez and Gase declined to comment, but the engine issue was verified by other sources.

*Perez’ car back in the garage during the pace laps.*

Meanwhile, back on track, Perez was to be one of six drivers sent to the back for unapproved adjustments, joined by Green’s backup car, plus a battery change on a returning Kyle Kelley, the late-announced driver of Gase’s white #53 Chevrolet, which was to start 35th. Also docked for unapproved adjustments were 29th-place Ryan Ellis in the #02 Sweetwater Chevrolet, 30th-place Connor Zilisch in the #1 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet, and 32nd-place Brennan Poole in the #44 Midas Chevrolet.

*The battle for 37th between Kelley (No. 53) and Cram (No. 35) in the other two Gase cars.*

When the green flag dropped, the battle for 37th spot began. Holding the place was Cram, who trailed 36th-place Kelley by open track, then closed the gap by Lap 2. Cram also stalled for a moment in Turn 7 before he continued. On Lap 3, the spot fell to Blaine Perkins, who spun his #31 Nuthin Fancy Co. Chevrolet, causing damage to the lower half of his car’s nose and also the rear bumper cover. By Lap 4, Perkins had caught and passed Cram, putting him back to 37th. On Lap 6, Lavar Scott got a huge run into Turn 11, but his #45 Sunoco Chevrolet collided with Kyle Sieg’s largely unsponsored #28 Chevrolet, which only carried a logo for Duv-All Sports Cards on the c-pillar. Both cars continued, but the impact cut down Sieg’s right-rear tire, which came apart as he returned to pit road and drew the first caution. Sieg, the last-place finisher in San Diego, incurred a penalty for pitting on a closed pit road and went a lap down in the process.

*Cram (left) makes it past as Kyle Sieg and Lavar Scott tangle in Turn 11.*

Sieg held the last spot through Lap 13, though that time by, Dean Thompson spun his #26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota and dropped to the last car on track in 36th, following the tire tracks of now 35th-place Cram. On Lap 14, Brandon Jones dropped off the pace in his bright yellow-and-blue #20 Menards / Nibco Toyota, which was still under power, but running very slow as he made it down pit road. He stalled short of the garage entrance Perez used, and his crew narrowly pushed him behind the wall before Zilisch came down pit road for his stop. The crew put Jones’ car on four jack stands in the center of the garage and managed to get him back on track, though 11 laps down. Sieg got his lap back when Stage 1 ended, and Jones got two of his back for the only two remaining yellows. NASCAR declared Perez out on Lap 19, citing the fuel pump that was among the parts the team was missing, but didn’t list Jones out in the same radio message.

By the finish, Jones had climbed to 36th thanks to Ross Chastain, who twice took unusual paths around the race track. The first came on Lap 30, when his #32 Western Watermelon Association / California Almonds Chevrolet had a fire underneath the car, citing a rear end issue. This arose between Turns 4 and 7, so Chastain drove down the dragstrip between both corners, dropping him off near pit entrance at Turn 11. Chastain returned to pit road on Lap 50, showing 21 laps down, but immediately had an issue. He this time pulled behind the wall just short of pit exit, turning hard left at an opening just before the track’s Simraceway Performance Driving Center building. Chastain stopped there, saying he’d make it back around the track when the next caution fell, and would likely use the drag strip again. Instead, on Lap 56, he drove forward, pulling around the fan shuttle stop in the paddock on his way back to the garage. He told the team they were done for the day so they could start packing their equipment. He was declared out with 29 laps completed, allowing Jones to make it past. Jones didn’t quite catch Leland Honeyman, Jr., whose #71 DPR Construction Chevrolet started to sputter in the closing laps due to a faulty battery. Honeyman made it to the garage without forcing a caution. Kelley rounded out the Bottom Five due to battery issues of his own stemming from a faulty alternator, forcing the team to change batteries multiple times just to get to the finish, two laps down.

*Ross Chastain (center) rolls through the fan zone after his cancelled attempt to return to the race.*

Viking Motorsports’ Retzlaff and Alfredo score first team double-top-five

*Alfredo’s No. 96 in the garage on Friday, the door numbers sprayed for inspection purposes.*

Just three years ago, both Parker Retzlaff and Anthony Alfredo had a Sonoma weekend to forget. Alfredo was involved in a savage accident in Turn 1 that ripped away the entire right side of a #78 Chevrolet fielded by B.J. McLeod Motorsports. And Retzlaff was enduring a frustrating season at Jordan Anderson Racing, handed a last-place finish after mechanical issues on the team’s #31. Now paired up at Viking Motorsports, both Retzlaff and Alfredo have been impressive all season, and just last week both qualified in the Top Five. They matched that mark this week, lining up 4th and 5th, and finishing in those exact spots – the Viking team’s first-ever double-top-five. Alfredo’s 4th-place finish, where he also led 5 laps, nearly tied his career-best 3rd and is his sixth Top Five. Retzlaff now has seven, including three this year, and in Atlanta tied his career-best runner-up finish from Rockingham last year.

Further back, Austin Green recovered nicely in Austin Hill’s backup car to put the #87 into the 12th spot in the finishing order.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #55 in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race since August 11, 2018, when Dylan Murcott crashed on the opening lap at Mid-Ohio in the #55 Prevagen / Pets For Warriors Toyota, then fielded by JP Motorsports. The number had never finished last in an O’Reilly race at Sonoma. The number had never finished last in an O’Reilly race at Sonoma. This also happens to be the second time in three races, and the fourth time overall in 2026 that a last-place finisher of an O’Reilly race did not complete any of the scheduled laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

38) #55-Brad Perez / 0 laps / fuel pump

37) #32-Ross Chastain / 29 laps / rear end

36) #20-Brandon Jones / 68 laps / running

35) #71-Leland Honeyman, Jr. / 71 laps / battery

34) #53-Kyle Kelley / 77 laps / running

2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) RSS Racing (3)

2nd) DGM Racing x JIM, Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, Young’s Motorsports (2)

2nd) 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 (13)

2nd) Ford (4)

3rd) Toyota (1)

2026 LASTCAR O’REILLY AUTO PARTS SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP