With only two races left in the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, Blaine Perkins, a 24-year-old California native, is witnessing the twilight of his freshman season in the No. 29 Ford Mustang with RSS Racing.
Perkins, who has 73 total Xfinity Series starts under his belt, is wrapping up his first full-time season in the division where he has seen an average finish of 26.4 and three top-15 results.
But two weekends ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, one of the tracks on the schedule closest to Perkins’ home, he capped off the year in style.
While featuring the partnerships of VIVID EV and Frontstretch, Perkins and his team honored fellow Bakersfield, Calif., native and NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick with a throwback to his 2003-06 Richard Childress Racing paint scheme.
Frontstretch caught up with the Xfinity racer at Las Vegas to reflect on his season with RSS Racing, the Bakersfield throwback and what’s in store for next year.
The following Q&A has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Dalton Hopkins, Frontstretch: What was your reaction to seeing that Kevin Harvick throwback for the first time?
Perkins: To me, it was kind of a shock. I know [VIVID EV] was really interested in designing the car, and we had talked about this for a few weeks now.
Once we got the whole deal put together, and then just kind of out of nowhere, I got shot the design. I’m like, ‘Whoa. That’s totally a Kevin Harvick throwback.’
It’s really cool for me, obviously, being from Bakersfield. Kevin, I grew up looking up to and [have] gotten to know him over the years. So just being able to kind of run one of these schemes at probably our closest home race here — and Sonoma, both about five hours away — but it’s just really cool.
I mean, this is something, I grew up 15-20 years ago watching him [race] and win all these races, and to be able to run one of his throwbacks is always a fun time.
Hopkins: If you wanted to do another throwback other than the one you’ve got right now, which one would it be?
Perkins: Put me on the spot big time. It’s funny. Like a couple drivers come to my mind. I mean, I think paint schemes is tough for me.
I was always another big Kasey Kahne fan growing up, so maybe one of his older paint schemes would have been really cool. I kind of remember some of his Red Bull Racing days and stuff like that. So, I don’t know. There’s a bunch of different paint schemes out there. But like I said, as far as the driver goes, for some reason, I don’t really know what it was, but Kasey Kahne was also another one that I was a big fan of.
I remember — I have an old memory of going to the Chili Bowl when I was young and watching him run the midgets around there and going to the pits and taking a picture with him when I was, I don’t know, probably 18 years old. So that was just another cool memory. And like I said, ever since then, I was big Kasey Kahne fan.
Hopkins: Are you going to go again this year?
Perkins: Haven’t been there in a couple years, but, man, I’d love to just go watch. That’s an awesome place, awesome racetrack, awesome environment, and I don’t do any dirt racing. It would be fun to race that one year.
Hopkins: That was going to be my next question. Is that something down the line?
Perkins: I wish, but, man, I have no dirt racing experience. I think it would take a couple years, couple races over there at [Millbridge Speedway] and kind of working my way into it. But it’s definitely an awesome event to watch every year.
Hopkins: This season has been a very interesting one for you. Your first one being with RSS. How do you rate your season being your first one with this race team?
Perkins: Yeah, exactly. I think we’re just still growing as a race team. We’ve had our bumps along the road, but I mean, as a whole, we’ve had some good runs.
Looking forward to kind of finishing off this year on a high note, coming back to Vegas. I really enjoy this track. Unfortunately, we had a shock problem here in the spring or something. So, looking forward to kind of seeing what we have this weekend. Like I said, it’s something unknown to us, because we didn’t really get to run many laps in the spring. So, I always enjoy this racetrack.
We’ve got [Martinsville Speedway] coming up, which is probably my favorite track, and [Phoenix Raceway] is another good one for me. [Homestead-Miami Speedway]’s always just fun. So, I love the way that the schedule kind of ends, and hopefully putting a good stamp to the end of the year here.
Hopkins: You’ve been in the Xfinity Series for a little while now. Going from way back in February at [Daytona International Speedway], how much have you learned over the process of 2024?
Perkins: Yeah, I mean, it’s just like you said. Every year. I’m still relatively new when you look at everybody in our series, but definitely having a couple full years now under my belt, kind of understanding the way the schedule goes and how long the season is and how you got to keep grinding it out and learning each and every week and take something from one racetrack and apply to the next.
So, that’s been our biggest thing is just trying to improve our program each and every week. And by doing that, I think we should have a good weekend this weekend. Like I said, Vegas is one of my favorite tracks, and I’m looking forward to seeing how we can run this weekend. Obviously, we didn’t get around much in the spring, and I know Steve [Addington, crew chief]’s really excited to be helping out on the car this weekend, and he loves this place too.
So, it’s just kind of a fun weekend to come out here and see a lot of people that I know from the West Coast as well and probably go to the Bullring tonight, watch some late model races. So it’s just always a fun weekend for me.
Hopkins: What do all of you guys need to get that top 10, maybe a top 10 for this year, or maybe moving forward?
Perkins: Yeah, I think it’s just continually building as a team. I mean, this is an extremely competitive series. I think running top 20s for us right now is kind of like a win for our team, and that’s what we’re really focusing on is top 20s. And then turn those into top 15s and just continually raising the bar for us.
So I’m looking forward to kind of finishing the year on a strong note for us. Like I said, we had a couple good races in a row there. Unfortunately had an issue last week with some shims falling out of the left front and just some racing things. Man, those curbs are big there at the [Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL], so they probably did a little damage there, and they did some damage to a lot of cars.
Yeah, I love it. I think it’s fun, but we didn’t quite get the finish we probably deserved. We were actually pretty quick last week, so like I said, just trying to finish the year out on a strong note. I think we can start here and then obviously heading to some short tracks here at the end of the year is always good for us.
Hopkins: Do you have plans moving into next year?
Perkins: Still working on plans for next year. Nothing’s been signed or getting ready to announce yet, but still working on sponsorship and all that stuff and talking to teams and trying to figure out exactly what the deal is going to be for next year. Hopefully, we’ll have something maybe figured out by Phoenix, probably my guess, and then hopefully announce pretty early in the off-season or maybe, like I said, toward that Phoenix deadline. But as of right now, no, we’re still kind of putting the pieces together for next year.
Hopkins: Have you had teams reach out to you?
Perkins: Yeah, for sure. No, I think, especially in the Xfinity Series, we’re always kind of talking, and drivers are talking to all kinds of different teams. Obviously, Silly Season is always a good time, and drivers are just moving all over the place.
So, [I’m] talking to a bunch of different teams and just trying to figure out which would be a good place to settle down for next year. Obviously, sponsorship is a big key role in that. So, it’s still trying to finalize all our stuff for next year, and hopefully, we’re getting to a good place. Like I said, hopefully [I’ll] have some announcements here in maybe the coming month or so.
About the author
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loudcolumn, co-host of the Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT
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