Blaine Perkins at 9:30 pm ET on Monday, March 28, 2016 Photo – Blaine Perkins Facebook page
Blaine Perkins is our guest on Fan4Racing NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, March 28, 2016 at 9:30 pm ET. Call 929-477-1790 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite or @Sal_Sigala with any questions or comments during our LIVE broadcast.
At Irwindale Speedway in September 2014, Blaine Perkins made history as their youngest Late Model winner when he was just 14 years of age. He went on in 2015 to make his NASCAR K&N Pro Series West debut at All-American Speedway, finishing 13th while also racing Lucas Oil Modifieds and Limited Late Models in the SRL Southwest Tour where he won a record five races in a row. A Bakersfield, California native, Blaine Perkins is now racing the K&N West series full-time in 2016 with Steve Portenga Racing.
Competing for Rookie of the Year honors in Portenga’s familiar No. 21, Perkins has been looking forward to last weekend’s season opener at his home track at Irwindale since learning of his full-time ride in the series.
“I haven’t been able to stop smiling since we put the pen to paper to sign this deal,” says Perkins. “It’s hard to express just what this means to my family and I”
“This is, honestly, a dream come true. We’ve been saying all year that all we needed was an opportunity, and this is the best one we could have asked for. Working with Steve [Portenga] and the rest of his team is a chance to really make a name for ourselves. 2016 is going to be an incredible season”
Perkins first practice at Irwindale ended with him placing seventh. He then went to qualify ninth for the K&N West opener on March 19th. However, Perkins’ first race of the season didn’t finish as he hoped, bringing his No. 21 to the finish line at 18th. Todd Gilliland won the Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts 150 on Saturday night.
Looking to improve his result on track at Kern County Raceway this weekend, Perkins is looking forward to racing again on Saturday, when the K&N West will once again hit the track.
One of the most promising up and coming West Coast racing stars, Perkins is also racing this year his No. 21 in the Lucas Oil Modifieds with Garcia Racing.
“We’re looking forward to working with Blaine,” team owner Mike Garcia said. “We’ve watched him grow as a driver and after his performances last year we think he’s ready for a breakthrough season this year. He’s probably only going to be able to run six or eight races with us, but he’s definitely capable of winning one or two of those.”
Last season Perkins had one top-ten in four starts with the Lucas Oil Modified Series and 14 top-fives in 19 starts on his way to a third-place finish in the NASCAR All-American Whelen Series point standings at Irwindale.
“Racing against the level of competition that was at Irwindale every weekend taught me more than I could ever explain,” says Perkins “In my opinion, that’s one of the best weekly fields in the country. If you can unload there and bring back a top-five, you know that you’ve done something. Posting the results that we did throughout 2015 was a huge encouragement for me – because it showed that I’m able to compete with some of the best of the best.
“We’ve put 100% into everything we’ve done in this sport so far, and running with the K&N West Series will be no different,” continues Perkins.
With that kind of effort, Blaine Perkins is undoubtedly one to watch throughout the 2016 season.
NASCAR K&N West teams will race their second event of the season, the NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Kern County Raceway on Saturday, April 2nd.