AUSTIN, Texas – Preston Pardus hasn’t been on track in his NASCAR Xfinity Chevrolet since October.
Suffice it to say that he is champing at the bit to get back in action this Saturday at the Circuit of the Americas. In 2022, Pardus had a career-best qualifying effort of seventh, and the 20-turn layout is well-suited to the skills of SCCA’s only four-time Spec Miata champion.
He’s especially amped up for this week’s Focused Health 250 because he’s ready to deliver a better showing than last year’s results. Pardus was sidelined a year ago after completing just 16 of 46 laps by suspension failure and was saddled with a 36th-place finish.
“One of the track bar mounts broke and that made for a premature end to our day,” the 27-year-old driver said. “We were solid in practice, then I think the mount might have fractured in qualifying. We were making set-up changes and the car wasn’t reacting good. We dropped back right away when the race started, and when the fracture broke, it bent the track bar so much it flattened a tire.”
Saturday’s race will mark NASCAR’s third visit to the 1,500-acre facility, located in Travis County on the rural southeast side of Austin. Pardus’ first two trips to COTA in Xfinity competition resulted in finishes of 14th and 16th.
“COTA’s a really cool race track, a really technical track,” Pardus said. “It’s got all different corners. You get the high-speed sections like the esses, and you get the super-slow sections like the seating area” near Germania Insurance Ampitheater.
“With a layout like that, you’re trying to get a car that’s pretty much good everywhere. It might not be the best everywhere, but you want it good everywhere. I really like going there. It takes a really good car, but quite a bit of it comes down to the driver and using your road-racing abilities.”
Pardus’ 23-race Xfinity ledger dates to a 2019 debut at Road America and is comprised of 22 road-course events and one start at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Of 1,553 possible laps, Pardus has completed nearly 90 percent, and 16 of those races saw him finish on the lead lap – proof that when the car is solid, he can get the job done.
His first assignment is to make the 38-car starting lineup from 40 entries. That’s something the team failed to do for the first time in its history last fall at Charlotte, when a minor mechanical issue ended its quest.
“It’s definitely a big challenge,” Pardus said. “With how the competition is in the Xfinity series, you’ve got to have everything on your list crossed and checked off because one thing will send you home. All it takes is one little error and you miss the race. If we’ve got everything right and I do my part, we can make the race, and I think we can have a good day.”
Pardus has made the most of his 2024 seat time in other forms of road racing. He has four top fives, including a win, in SCCA Spec Miata action at Homestead and Sebring, Florida. Last weekend, he competed in two Mazda MX-5 Cup events at Sebring for Rick Ware Racing, posting finishes of seventh and 13th.
“The MX-5 races aren’t two hours like the Xfinity races are,” he said, “but you’re going at it for 45 minutes, and that lets you build up your heart rate, especially in the Florida heat last week. Just being in a race car helps mentally prepare you.”
