Saturday, March 25, 2023

Race 6 of 33: Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of the Americas 

Track Specs: 3.41-mile road course/ 46 laps

Race Winner: AJ Allmendinger

Paludo’s finish: 13th


Making his first NASCAR Xfinity Series road-course start of 2023, Miguel Paludo brought the No. 88 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet home with a 13th-place finish in Saturday’s Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of the Americas. Paludo gained several positions in the final 10 laps to earn the spot, even flirting with a top-10 finish late in the going, but needed a late-race caution to help the team secure additional track position.

Race Rundown 

  • Paludo’s race began with an 18th-place starting spot that he improved upon in the opening laps, climbing to 13th by the fourth circuit. Paludo reported his biggest issue in the early stages was the car’s inability to carry speed into the corners, which made passing difficult. 
  • The BRANDT Professional Agriculture team had its opportunity to make adjustments under the first pit stop on lap 7. Crew chief Jason Stockert called for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment, however the stop was hampered by an air-gun issue that dropped Paludo into the mid-20s for the restart. He finished Stage One in 23rd.
  • The adjustments from the initial stop had the car much more to Paludo’s liking in Stage Two, which he leveraged to climb into 15th. As various pit strategies played out, the No. 88 came to pit road under a lap-29 caution with Paludo reporting that the same handling issues from earlier had returned. The team made further adjustments on pit road and Paludo ended Stage Two in 20th.
  • With stellar driving Paludo avoided the chaos of Turn 1 over the course of several restarts, and set about snagging positions in the closing laps. Despite having a “lack of rear grip,” Paludo and the No. 88 team improved to 13th over the final 10 laps.

Miguel Paludo, driver No. 88 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet team

“I don’t think we could have done anything different today. We had difficulty carrying speed through the corners with the car, so what we gained on entry and exit, we gave back in the middle of the corner. It was tough but we managed what we could. It really is a lot of fun to come over here and race in NASCAR with BRANDT and JR Motorsports. I’m looking forward to my next opportunity in Chicago.”

Heath White | Communications Manager

JR Motorsports

JR Motorsports Race Report