Preston Pardus and his family-owned team Pardus Racing, Inc. will continue to field the No. 50 entry in select NASCAR Xfinity Series events this season, starting later this month at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.
A native of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, Pardus has been competing primarily on road courses in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since 2019, most recently with his family-owned team, which was relaunched in 2023 for a four-race campaign.
The 5?0? returns in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for 2024! I'm really excited to announce that I'll be racing this season again for my small family run team on a limited schedule. I can't wait to get behind the wheel in a few weeks time for our first event of the year at COTA! pic.twitter.com/mQJUabXaPj
— Preston Pardus (@PrestonPardus) March 8, 2024
Pardus, the four-time and defending SCCA National Champion in the Spec Miata division, is further honing his craft in multiple divisions, much as his father Dan Pardus, a former competitor in the NASCAR Cup Series did throughout his career.
In January, the 26-year-old racer was tapped by NASCAR Cup Series team Rick Ware Racing to compete in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Series for the team, alongside Cody Ware. After being caught up in a wreck during the second race at Daytona in January, Pardus currently sits in 20th-place in point standings.
Since debuting in the series a half-decade ago at Road America, Pardus has made 23 starts in the second-tier series, earning three finishes inside the top-10 for DGM Racing, including a career-best seventh-place result at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s ROVAL in October 2021.
Last season, Pardus recorded a 12th-place result in the inaugural Chicago Street Course event for the NASCAR Xfinity Series in July, which marked the best-ever result for his family-owned organization. That was the best result of the season for the road course expert, which included a DNQ at Charlotte’s ROVAL, a mechanical failure at COTA, and a 24th-place run at Indianapolis.
Pardus tells TobyChristie.com that the organization only has Circuit of The Americas (COTA) confirmed for the time being, but expects the No. 50 to make a similar number of on-track appearances as it did in 2023. Additional announcements regarding the remainder of his schedule for the year, as well as sponsorship partners, will come at a later date.
