What: Henry 180 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series
When: Saturday, July 3, 2:30 p.m. Central
Where: Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI
Car: No. 90 Danus Utilities/Chinchor Electric Chevrolet
Distance: Stages of 10, 10 and 25 laps (45 laps/182.16 miles)
Race broadcast info: TV – NBC; Radio – Motor Racing Network/Sirius XM Ch. 90
ELKHART LAKE, WI — Road America is more than 1,300 miles from Preston Pardus’ residence in Daytona Beach, Fla., but it certainly feels like home.
This weekend, Pardus returns to the 4.048-mile circuit where he made his NASCAR Xfinity debut in 2019. It’s the road course where he produced his career-best Xfinity finish with an eighth last summer, and the same venue on which he captured his second SCCA Spec Miata national championship last fall. Pardus will try to produce another strong Xfinity showing Saturday in the 45-lap, 182-mile Henry 180 on NBC.
“It’s probably the most excited I’ve been about returning to a track,” said Pardus, who had led five laps when the field took the green flag for the final two laps of the 2020 Henry 180.
“Last year we had really good speed in the wet and stayed in the top five the whole second stage. The tire strategy we had when we stayed out late allowed us to lead and restart up front. I knew we were going to fall back a little bit — didn’t have a shot at winning — and we had decent enough pace to finish eighth. It’s something to build on.”
Saturday’s event will mark Pardus’ 10th career Xfinity start and fourth this season. He kicked off the year at Daytona International Speedway’s road course and was running in the top 10 when the rear end failed with seven laps to go. It would be three months before he returned to action at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, but he produced a 14th-place finish in very wet conditions with the car he will pilot at Road America. He finished 25th on the lead lap at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on June 5.
As was the case at Mid-Ohio, Pardus’ father Dan will serve as crew chief at Road America.
In 2019, Preston Pardus qualified 15th at Elkhart Lake in his NASCAR debut, but only completed 14 laps when suspension failure ended his day. He started 37th in 2020 with positions for the green flag determined by owner points rather than time trials.
This weekend, Pardus will get to practice the No. 90 Chevrolet on Friday at 3:05 p.m. Central time in anticipation of Saturday’s 10:35 a.m. Central qualifying session. NBCSN will pick up qualifying at noon Eastern/11 Central.
“Road America’s got a good range of corners with a lot of high-speed stuff, and you also have quite a bit of low speed,” Pardus said. “It has some risky sections to it, like the Kink, where you’re sailing the car in there and can gain ground on people if you’re riskier than they are.
“You also have a nice range of high-speed braking areas. You get a ton more passing opportunities with the big straightaways, so it’s easier to set up passes. It’s a good track to race either wet or dry.”
Unlike last year, Pardus and his peers shouldn’t have to deal with wet conditions Saturday. The forecast calls for a sun-kissed, 75-degree day.
The Xfinity race sets the stage for Sunday’s Jockey Made in America 250 for NASCAR’s premier Cup Series. It’s only the second Cup event ever at Elkhart Lake, with the debut coming Aug. 12, 1956 — the first major event at the track. Tim Flock drove a ‘56 Mercury to a 17-second victory over Billy Meyers in that inaugural event.
