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…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at …