Roulette Recap follows a randomly selected driver throughout a race to break down their efforts. There is no telling ahead of time how the race will go. The driver could face calamity on the opening lap or start from the rear and win the race. With that, may the odds be ever in the driver’s favor.
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With a career best finish of P27 at Darlington Raceway, the Lady in Black has not been the kindest to Blaine Perkins. However, he looked to better his spring finish as the NASCAR Xfinity Series headed to Darlington on Labor Day weekend.
With Steve Addington on the pit box and Tony Raines in the spotter’s stand, Perkins rolled off P32.
Prior to the green flag waving, Perkins was awarded two spots as Matt DiBenedetto and Jesse Love were forced to the rear after unapproved adjustments.
Stage 1
The moment cars took off across the start/finish line, Parker Retzlaff dropped low and took to pit road. Immediately after that, Perkins radioed in, “Bad sounding motor right now!”
The caution waved for Retzlaff’s trouble and Perkins updated his team, stating, “It’s a relaly bad stutter at half throttle. And I’m really loose.”
Addington opted to keep Perkins on track and see how the car fared over a long run. With that, Perkins lined up P30 for the Lap 9 restart. Still under caution, Perkins noted, “I don’t think it’ll go on the start.” The team opted to drop back, just in case.
Perkins immediately radioed in to say, “This is full throttle,” and those listening over the radio could hear a sputtering engine.
He brought his car to the pits for a once over.
As Perkins sat on pit road, NASCA Cup Series driver, Joey Logano, brought his car to pit road with issues.
A despondent Perkins radioed in, “It just died.”
Meanwhile, Riley Herbst slammed the wall and also came to the pits with a flat tire. Then, as the No. 29 team pushed the car to the garage, Anthony Alfredo took to the pits with trouble.
After an extended time in the pits, Perkins returned in P37, down 16 laps. Once back on track, Perkins seemed much happier with his machine.
Before any ground could be made, the caution was out for debris on the track.
Raines asked for an update under caution and Addington noted, “Ignition box.” He tehn said to Perkins, “I went ahead and tightened you up while we were in here. Is it better?” Perkins replied, “Maybe too tight. But it’s fine.” The young driver was probably just thankful his machine was running.
The race resumed with 10 to go and Perkins sitting P36. With six to go, Sam Mayer went for a spin with a tire down, but the race stayed green.
As the leaders took the green-white-checkered, Brandon Jones went for a spin on the backstretch following contact with Shane Van Gisbergen.
Perkins finished the stage in P36. He told Addington he was “overall a bit snug” and still had some bounce.
Stage 2
Addington responded, “We have the chance to learn some, so I want to try some stuff.” The team worked out a plan for adjustments and, following a lengthy stop, Perkins re-started Stage 2 in P36.
One lap in, the caution was back out as Kyle Weatherman slammed the wall. Once the action resumed, Perkins remained in P36 and quiet on the radio.
Perkins mored to P35 due to the misfortune of others. Meanwhile, Chad Finchum pitted with a vibration and Justin Allgaier radioed he had spoke in the cockpit. A few minutes later, AJ Allmendinger also reported smoke.
It was certainly shaping up to be a bizarre day in Darlington!
With nine to go in the stage, Perkins moved up one more spot. However, with six to go Raines noted, “The leader is half a straightaway behind you.”
Addington encouraged his driver, “You’re running top-20 lap times. Way to go, bud.”
The stage ended with Perkins in P34 and stating he was still pretty tight.
Stage 3
Perkins came to his crew for a round of adjustments and started the final stage in P35. He moved to P34 after getting around Herbst who was also running 17 laps down.
With 35 to go, Addington gave an update on lap times. Perkins asked for an update on approximately where in the field he would be, if not for the ignition issues. Addington confirmed it was mid-20s lap times.
Thoughout the closing laps, Perkins held his ground in P34. But with five to go, Allmendinger brought out the caution after he slammed the wall. Perkins noted his car fired off the best all day. Addington noted, “Yeh, you were running better than cars in 18th or 19th.”
The No. 29 team opted to take the wavearound and run out the Overtime laps. Coming across the stripe in P34, Addington told his driver, “Sorry about the ignition box.”
Perkins repled, “Sucks that it happened, but we made the most of it.”
Sponsor Shoutout + Driver & Team Socials
NASCAR fans know sponsors make the sport go ’round. We want to give a shoutout to AutoParkIt.com who played a huge part of the weekend for Blaine Perkins and the No. 29 team.
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