Racer outperformed numerous well-funded teams, drivers in 2022 Austin race
AUSTIN, Texas — It’s been more than five months since Preston Pardus turned laps in his NASCAR Xfinity car, but his 2023 debut finally arrives this weekend at the Circuit of The Americas with a new car number and a primary corporate partner.
Pardus, a three-time SCCA national champion, will attack the 21-turn course in a Chevrolet now bearing the No. 50 – a number his father and crew chief, Dan, used briefly in NASCAR Cup competition in 1999. The team’s Chevrolet will weave its way around the 3.41-mile track with a local distiller, Garage Oil American Badass Whiskey, adorning its hood and rear quarterpanels.
In the Xfinity series’ two previous ventures to CoTA, Pardus has produced a pair of 14th-place, lead-lap finishes. He’s eager to kick off the stock car portion of his 2023 schedule in Texas.
“It was a solid weekend last year – a good baseline to start the season off with,” said the 25-year-old resident of New Smyrna Beach, Florida. “We had good pace in qualifying, and I haven’t qualified all that well in the past. I thought we raced pretty well. The only bummer is we had a pit-road penalty, and that obviously hurt track position. Anytime you lose track position, it’s hard to get it back.
“Even so, it was one of those days that was solid and we stayed out of trouble other than that one deal on pit road – so it was a good weekend.”
“Good” may be an understatement.
Pardus reached the finish line ahead of luminaries such as: eventual Xfinity Series champion Ty Gibbs (all four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, in fact); NASCAR Cup regular Bubba Wallace; Ross Chastain, the National Motorsports Press Association’s Driver of the Year; and Justin Allgaier, a 19-time Xfinity race winner.
“We definitely had good race pace,” Pardus said. “The set-up was good. We unloaded really good, which was a huge goal – and will be huge for us this year with no owner points. We were quickest in practice in a short session and seventh in qualifying, so that was important.
“A good starting spot is important. CoTA is challenging because the field gets spread out there. You lose the leaders rather quickly, so track position is crucial, especially this year without the yellows after the first and second stages to bunch the field. You don’t know when the next caution’s going to come.”
Last year’s race in Austin marked the NASCAR debut for Garage Oil Spirits, a local distiller founded and co-owned by Ron Stone. This time around, the company has stepped up from a small presence on the rear quarterpanels to a much larger role.
The No. 50 Chevy will feature a distinctive design and eye-catching wrap to help push the company’s whiskey, which is available in over 225 locations in Texas liquor stores, restaurants, nightclubs and resorts. It is also sold in California and Colorado, and the product can be shipped for home delivery in 30 states. Garage Oil was voted the crowd favorite whiskey in its home state at the 5th annual Texas Whiskey Festival.
“This is going to be the first time we take the entire wrap on Preston’s Camaro, and we couldn’t be more proud or pleased with the collaboration between our two BADASS companies,” Stone said. “We just celebrated our first year in business in January, and we are killin’ it. Last year this time, we were only a few months old, and there were only a handful of places in the Austin area where American Badass Whiskey was sold. We’re off and running toward our goal of being one of the most popular whiskey brands in the entire nation within the next couple of years.”
Pardus’ stint behind the wheel this weekend kicks off Friday with a practice session at 5:30 p.m. Central time, followed at 6 o’clock by two rounds of qualifying. Saturday’s action includes a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, followed by the Pit Boss 250. The weekend is capped off by Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix for the Cup Series.
