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Brad Perez is an up-and-coming superstar who currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving for Emerling-Gase Motorsports in their No. 53 car.
As stated in the interview below posted by Front Stretch on their YouTube channel, Brad earned the nickname “Bread” after many of his Hispanic peers had issues with pronouncing his birth name, Bradley. Here is that fun fact and many more about Brad “Bread” Perez:
Bonus fun fact: Brad “Bread” Perez got a lot of buzz on Twitter this week after RFK Racing posted photo of Brad Keselowski’s changed name atop his door for this weekend’s race in the dirt at Bristol.
Before Brad “Bread” Perez began his work in the world of NASCAR, he was a disc jockey in his hometown of Miami, Florida. He started to produce music and started laying a foundation down in the industry as he struck up a lot of relationships with different artists, most notably with the metalcore band, I Set My Friends On Fire.
The association led to Perez selling t-shirts for the band at concerts, which ultimately led to Perez running a I Set My Friends On Fire-sponsored truck at Sonoma in 2022.
When speaking with Luis Torres of Up to Speed, Perez explained how this arrangement happened:
Yeah. So, the main merch guy, we call him “Fish.” He couldn’t do a couple of the runs for them on tour. So, they hit me up. Back home in Miami, I used to DJ. I used to work with a couple bands. I used to produce music. So, I was familiar with the whole deal. They were like, ‘Hey, we can just have Brad do it.’ They came over and did some tech work, sold some merch. It was pretty fun. I know those guys and they’re really cool people. This whole deal came about because they were like, ‘Jared B Designs. I don’t wanna butcher his last name’, but he came along He was like, ‘Hey, you know what if we had a I Set My Friends On Fire truck?’ And I was like, ‘That’s a joke. There’s no way it’s gonna happen.’ The band was like, ‘Dude, what if we just sold merch and made up the money.’ And then they were like, ‘I’m down if you’re down.’ That’s how it happened.
Perez would go onto finish 22nd in his Truck Series debut and would actually run faster practice laps than Austin Dillon.
Like many up-and-coming drivers with limited sponsorship opportunities, Brad Perez became a crewman, working as crew chief for ARCA Menards Series owner-driver, Willie Mullins in the 2022 General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway (where he would see his driver bring it home in the 15th position).
Most notably, however, he worked as the tire specialist for Rackley W.A.R. for the 2021 and 2022 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Seasons. Rackley W.A.R. would see their driver, Matt DiBenedetto, win his first ever NASCAR race in 2022 at Talladega in this calamity-filled race to the finish.
In his interview with Luis Torres in Up to Speed, Brad Perez had this to say:
I never thought that I end up being a crew member in NASCAR. Like, I didn’t think that was going be a thing that I would ever do. I’m just happy to do that. Obviously, I wanted to race, but it’s kind of just do what you got to do. We all want to race. I know Amber wants to race full-time and Ryan’s getting to do that now, even though it’s kind of tough for him right now. That’s what we want to do. So yeah, I take pride in it, but more it’s like, it’s just what I want to do.
With his starts in the 2022 and 2023 season, Brad Perez will follow in the footsteps of fellow crewmen-turned NASCAR driver, Ryan Vargas.
So far in his very young career as a NASCAR driver, Brad “Bread” Perez has made 1 start in the ARCA Menards Series, 1 start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and 3 starts in 4 attempts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The first of these starts was his 2021 ARCA debut which saw him qualify for the race at Watkins Glen, driving the No. 60 Chevrolet for Josh Williams Motorsports. He would finish in the 24th position.
2022 saw him make his aforementioned debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Sonoma where he would finish 22nd.
He would attempt to make his debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the Indianapolis Road Course in 2022. He was slated to drive MBM Motorsports’ No. 13 Toyota Camry. He would unfortunately fail to qualify.
He would successfully qualify for both the Xfinity Races at Watkins Glen and for the Roval in 2022, driving the No. 35 for Emerling-Gase Motorsports. He would finish in the 20th and 23rd spots, respectively.
Returning to Emerling-Gase Motorsports in 2023, it was announced that Brad Perez would drive the No. 53 Toyota at COTA and three other to be announced events in the 2023 season with the sponsorship support of Green Tech Energy, Weiss, Victory Sim, and Apex. At COTA earlier this year in March, he finished 29th.
That’s everything you need to know about Brad “Bread” Perez. What do you think is the most interesting thing about him? Let us know!
