Dan Pardus

Daniel Joseph Pardus (born April 2, 1963) is an American former stock car racing driver. He was a regular on the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series, and also competed in events in the Busch and Winston Cup Series, as well as the ARCA Re/Max Series.

Dan Pardus
Born	Daniel Joseph Pardus (1963-04-02) April 2, 1963 (age 61) Port Orange, Florida, U.S.
NASCAR Cup Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish	68th (1998)
First race	1998 Pepsi 400 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
18 races run over 2 years
Best finish	49th (2002)
First race	2001 Pepsi 300 (Nashville)
Last race	2002 Little Trees 300 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0

Racing career

A native of Port Orange, Florida, a suburb of Daytona Beach, Pardus, a graduate of Mainland High School,^[1] won back to back track championships at New Smyrna Speedway in 1980 and 1981.^[2] Pardus began racing in NASCAR's touring series in 1992, competing in the Goody's Dash Series, a series for four-cylinder subcompact cars.^[2] He ran in the series for several years, running a Chevrolet Cavalier and, later, a Pontiac Grand Am; he joined Jim & Judie Motorsports, the team he would run the majority of the remainder of his racing career for, before the 1995 season.^[3]

Pardus moved to the ARCA Re/MAX Series, a full-size stock car series, in 1997; running approximately half the series schedule, he placed third in the series' Rookie of the Year award standings and 12th overall.^[4] He ran only five races in the series in 1998, as he attempted to make his debut at the top level of NASCAR competition, the Winston Cup Series;^[5] he failed to qualify for a number of races through the season,^[6] and was injured early in the season in a practice crash at Texas Motor Speedway.^[7] In October he successfully made his debut, in what would prove to be his only start in the series, in the Pepsi 400 in October.^[8] Pardus finished 36th in the event,^[9] which had been delayed from July by extensive wildfires in central Florida.^[10]

Pardus entered the 1999 season intending to run the full 1999 Winston Cup Series schedule, competing for Rookie of the Year driving the No. 50 for Midwest Transit Racing.^[9] The team ran a limited schedule due to limited sponsorship; following his third failure to qualify in three attempts, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Pardus was released as the team's driver, moving to a management position.^[11]

In 2000, driving for the Gardners, Pardus failed to qualify for the Daytona 500;^[12] after running a limited ARCA schedule in 2000, Pardus and the team moved to the NASCAR Busch Series in 2001, with sponsorship from The Outdoor Channel; he made his debut in the series at Nashville Superspeedway.^[13] In his second Busch Series race, at Chicagoland Speedway, Pardus was involved in a hard crash with David Donohue, suffering a broken back;^[14] he returned to competition later in the year, and ran a partial schedule in 2002, competing in twelve races, all but one for Jim & Judie Motorsports; the exception being a drive for Jay Robinson Racing in the GNC Live Well 250 at Daytona International Speedway;^[1] he also failed to qualify for six other races. Pardus' team hired pit crews from Winston Cup Series teams to pit their cars; at Nashville, due to a scheduling conflict, the crew for ML Motorsports pitted the car.^[15]

Following the 2002 season, The Outdoor Channel ended their sponsorship of Jim & Judie Motorsports;^[16] Pardus attempted to qualify for two races in 2003, at Daytona International Speedway and Darlington Raceway failing to qualify for both.^[17] Pardus would make one more attempt at a NASCAR start, in 2005 at Daytona, driving the No. 73 Chevrolet for Raabe Racing Enterprises in qualifying for the Pepsi 400; he failed to qualify for the event.^[18]

Personal life

Pardus is married, to Alice.^[2] He has two children, Danielle and Preston Pardus, both of whom also race cars; Preston won the Sports Car Club of America Spec Miata national championship in 2017.^[19][20]

He currently works as a utilities contractor, and worked as a part-time commentator for radio and TV broadcasts of racing events on SPEED Channel and HD Net, which he joined following his racing career.^[21]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1998	Midwest Transit Racing	07	Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL DNQ	CAL	CLT DNQ	DOV	RCH	MCH	POC	SON	NHA	POC	IND DNQ	GLN	MCH	BRI	NHA DNQ	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	TAL DNQ	DAY 36	PHO	CAR	ATL		68th	55	[22]
1999		50		DAY DNQ	CAR Wth†	LVS	ATL	DAR	TEX	BRI	MAR	TAL DNQ	CAL	RCH	CLT DNQ	DOV	MCH	POC	SON	DAY	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	MAR	CLT	TAL	CAR	PHO	HOM	ATL	N/A	–	[23]
2000	Jim & Judie Motorsports	65	Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	MCH	POC	SON	DAY	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	MAR	CLT	TAL	CAR	PHO	HOM	ATL	N/A	–	[24]
† - Replaced after first round qualifying by Billy Standridge

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1998	Midwest Transit Racing	Chevrolet	DNQ
1999			DNQ
2000	Jim & Judie Motorsports	Chevrolet	DNQ

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	NBSC	Pts	Ref
2001	Jim & Judie Motorsports	32	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH 35	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	NZH	CLT DNQ	DOV	KEN DNQ	MLW	GLN	CHI 36	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR 31	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT 36	MEM	PHO 29	CAR 31	HOM DNQ		61st	384	[25]
2002				DAY DNQ	CAR 34	LVS 33	DAR 23	BRI	TEX DNQ	NSH 32	TAL	CAL	RCH 34	NHA	NZH	CLT 25	DOV	NSH 35	KEN 27	MLW		CHI DNQ	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH 27	BRI	DAR 39	RCH DNQ	DOV	KAN	CLT 42	MEM DNQ	ATL	CAR DNQ	PHO	HOM	49th	780	[26]
	Jay Robinson Racing	49	Ford																		DAY 41
2003		39		DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	TAL	NSH	CAL	RCH	GTY	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY DNQ	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI											N/A	–	[27]
	Red Racing	91	Chevy																									DAR DNQ	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	PHO	CAR	HOM

ARCA Re/Max Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Re/Max Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	ARMC	Pts	Ref
1997	Jim & Judie Motorsports	42	Chevy	DAY 9	ATL 8	SLM 25	CLT 31	CLT 19	POC	MCH 23	SBS	TOL	KIL	FRS	MIN 16	POC	MCH 11	DSF 32	GTW 28	SLM	WIN	CLT 16	TAL 8	ISF	ATL 24				12th	–	[28]
1998				DAY 18	ATL	SLM 4	CLT	MEM	MCH 29	POC	SBS	TOL	PPR	POC	KIL	FRS	ISF	ATL	DSF	SLM 32	TEX	WIN	CLT	TAL 3	ATL				N/A	–	[29]
1999				DAY 38	ATL 40	SLM 15	AND	CLT 9	MCH 29	POC	TOL 16	SBS	BLN	POC 27	KIL	FRS	FLM	ISF	WIN	DSF	SLM	CLT 40	TAL 25	ATL 22					32nd	1000	[30]
2000				DAY 7	SLM	AND	CLT 14	KIL	FRS	MCH 12	POC 3	TOL	KEN 4	BLN	POC 22	WIN	ISF	KEN 35	DSF	SLM	CLT DNQ	TAL 18	ATL 11						22nd	1530	[31]
2001				DAY 24	NSH	WIN	SLM	GTY	KEN	CLT	KAN	MCH	POC	MEM	GLN	KEN	MCH	POC	NSH	ISF	CHI	DSF	SLM	TOL	BLN	CLT	TAL	ATL	151st	115	[32]

References

1. "Busch Series Notes". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. July 4, 2002. p. 7B. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
2. Kelly, Godwin (May 21, 1992). "Pardus Aims For Rookie Of Year Honors On Nascar Dash Series". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. p. 6B. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
3. Kelly, Godwin (February 16, 1995). "Pardus Out To Draft Winning Plan". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. pp. 1D, 6D. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
4. Kelly, Godwin (October 17, 1997). "Pardus calls season successful". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. p. 6B.
5. Kelly, Godwin (January 5, 1998). "Pardus to run with the big boys". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. p. 2B. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
6. Kelly, Godwin (July 29, 1998). "Pardus hanging tough". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. p. 1B. Archived from the original on 1999-04-27. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
7. Kelly, Godwin (April 25, 1998). "Healed Pardus turns to car". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. p. 6B. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
8. "Pardus, at Last, Makes Winston Cup Debut". The New York Times. New York. October 17, 1998. Retrieved July 6, 2010.
9. Booth, Andrew (November 8, 1998). "Pardus putting plan to action: Daytona driver spent '98 learning". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. p. 6D. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
10. Trout, Ben (October 8, 1998). "Two weeks of restrictor-plate races". Williamson Daily News. Williamson, WV.
11. Kelly, Godwin (June 6, 1999). "Pardus is star student at school of hard knocks". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. p. 8C. Archived from the original on 2000-08-23. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
12. Shacklette, Buddy (February 18, 2000). "Thirteen leave before the Big Show". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. p. 3B. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
13. Williams, D.C. (March 24, 2001). "Daytona's Pardus moves to GN series". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. p. 8B. Archived from the original on 2001-06-17. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
14. "Getting out". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, PA. July 16, 2001. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
15. Hubler, Dale (April 11, 2002). "ML Motorsports Pit Crew To Make NASCAR Debut". Times-Union. Warsaw, IN. p. 2B. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
16. "Pardus loses sponsor". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. October 24, 2002. p. 6B.
17. "Notes". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. July 4, 2003. p. 10B.
18. "Nextel Cup Notes". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. July 1, 2005. p. 2B. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
19. Kelly, Godwin (May 8, 2013). "Family affair: Former NASCAR driver Pardus introduces his kids to Daytona". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
20. Kelly, Godwin (September 29, 2017). "New Smyrna's Pardus wins SCCA national title". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
21. "Local motorsports notes: Pardus in the booth". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. April 9, 2004. p. 3B. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
22. "Dan Pardus – 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
23. "Dan Pardus – 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
24. "Dan Pardus – 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
25. "Dan Pardus – 2001 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
26. "Dan Pardus – 2002 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
27. "Dan Pardus – 2003 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
28. "Dan Pardus – 1997 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
29. "Dan Pardus – 1998 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
30. "Dan Pardus – 1999 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
31. "Dan Pardus – 2000 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
32. "Dan Pardus – 2001 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 29, 2019.

External links

• Dan Pardus driver statistics at Racing-Reference