Hattori Racing Enterprises announced that Chase Purdy will be joining the organization as a full-time competitor for the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.
Purdy, a 22-year-old native from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and winner of the 2018 Snowflake 100 and Dixieland 250, will be piloting the No. 61 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro with continuous sponsorship support from BAMA Buggies, beginning with the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February, as he pursues his first victory and Playoff appearance in the series.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join the HRE team,” Purdy said. “They have consistently won races and been a weekly contender for the last several years. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to race with this group in 2022.”
“This is a humbling, yet a big chance for me to elevate my performance with such a family-oriented team,” Purdy added. “It is also great to have the continued support of BAMA Buggies and rejoin the Toyota Racing family. Hopefully, we can contribute towards another manufacturer title in the new Tundra TRD Pro and make a strong run at the playoffs.”
“Chase has shown a lot of potential and we’re happy to have him join HRE,” Shigeaki Hattori, owner of Hattori Racing Enterprises, added. “He has won some big races in his career and has the ability to be successful with our team. We’re looking forward to putting the right people around him and have Chase up front on a weekly basis.”
Purdy, who competed in his first two Truck career races during two of the final three races of the 2018 season with MDM Motorsports, is coming off his first full-time season in the series, where he drove the No. 23 Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing to two top-10 results and a 19th-place result in the final championship standings. He was absent from Watkins Glen International in August following a positive COVID-19 test.
In 30 career starts in the Truck Series, including seven in 2020 with GMS Racing, Purdy has achieved three top-10 results, eight laps led and an average-finishing result of 21.9.
Prior to the Truck Series, Purdy competed in the 2017 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season with David Gilliland Racing, where he earned five runner-up results and a fourth-place result in the final standings. He also competed on a full-time basis in the 2018 ARCA Racing Series for MDM Motorsports, where he earned 10 top-five results and a fourth-place result in the final standings.
Purdy’s entrance to HRE comes approximately two months after it was announced that Austin Hill will not be remaining with the team for the upcoming Truck Series season. Hill, who is set to join Richard Childress Racing for the 2022 Xfinity Series season, spent the previous three seasons with HRE, where he competed in 68 Truck races and 15 Xfinity races. During this span, he achieved eight career victories, three poles, 27 top-five results, 53 top-10 results and three Playoff appearances in the Truck circuit with a best points result of fifth in 2019. He also achieved one top-five result and four top-10 result in the Xfinity circuit.
Additional details regarding HRE’s NASCAR program for the 2022 season will be announced at a later date.
