NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Overview:
Event: Rackley Roofing 200, Race 13 of 23, 150 Laps – 45/50/55; 199.5 Miles
Location: Nashville Superspeedway (1.33-mile, D-shaped oval)
Date/Broadcast: June 23, 2023, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
‘Chase’n a Playoff Spot:
Chase Purdy and the No. 4 Bama Buggies team head to Nashville Superspeedway for Friday’s Rackley Roofing 200 riding the momentum of a fifth place-finish in the series’ last event at World Wide Technology Raceway. Purdy entered the 2022 season having never earned a top-five result in Truck Series action but has produced two across 12 races in his first season at Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM), including a career-best runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April. He also has already produced a career-high six top-10 finishes this season, after posting just two each in 2021 and 2022.
With four races remaining in the regular season, Purdy sits 13th in the driver point standings, 31 points below the cutoff line for being one of the 10 drivers to make the Truck Series playoffs.
The 23-year-old driver has recorded an average finish of 14.0 across two career starts at Nashville Superspeedway. He finished 13th in last year’s race and 15th in 2021. He also earned a seventh-place finish in his lone ARCA Menards Series start at the 1.33-mile track in 2018.
Friday’s race will be the third and final race of the 2023 Triple Truck Challenge in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. For the races at Charlotte, World Wide Technology Raceway and Nashville Superspeedway only points earning drivers in the Truck Series were eligible to participate in those events, with each race having extra money on the line. Purdy can earn a $50,000 bonus with a win on Friday night at Nashville as part of the program. If Charlotte winner Ben Rhodes or World Wide Technology winner Grant Enfinger wins Friday, they will earn a $150,000 bonus for winning two of the three events.
Purdy will be trying to etch his mark in the KBM historical archives Friday at Nashville Superspeedway as he looks to collect the organization’s 100th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory. Nashville was the sight of KBM’s first win with owner-driver Kyle Busch in April of 2010. Busch collected KBM’s record-extending 99th-career victory with his dominant win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this year leaving his organization one win shy of the century mark. Overall, 18 different drivers have won at least one race behind the wheel of a KBM truck, led by Busch’s 47. Four drivers rank second on the list with seven victories: William Byron, Christopher Bell, Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek. Two of KBM’s wins have come at Nashville Superspeedway, both with Busch (2010 and 2011).
The Mississippi native is in his third full-time season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and first with KBM. He enters Friday’s race having totaled two top-five, 11 top-10 finishes, and 20 laps led across his 64 career Truck Series starts. Purdy finished 16th in the Truck Series final standings in 2022 after competing in 22 of the 23 events. He posted two top-10 finishes and nine laps led, with a season-best finish of seventh coming at Talladega Superspeedway in October.
Jimmy Villeneuve is atop the pit box for Purdy and the No. 4 Chevrolet team this season. Prior to being promoted to crew chief for the 2023 season, Villeneuve had served as a Truck Chief at KBM since the 2017 season and in that role was a part of 18 wins, a driver’s championship with Christopher Bell in 2017 and the 2019 owner’s championship with the No. 51 team. Prior to joining KBM the New Hampshire native served as a truck chief at Athenian Motorsports in 2015 when the team won with John Wes Townley at Las Vegas. He was promoted to crew chief five races into the 2016 season. This will be Villeneuve’s first time calling a race at Nashville Superspeedway.
Bama Buggies, your one-stop shop for all the biggest names in powersports and utility vehicles, will be the primary sponsor on Purdy’s No. 4 Chevrolet Friday night and for the majority of the events on the 2023 schedule. They are Central Alabama’s powersports experts, serving as an authorized dealer of Polaris, Slingshot, and Seadoo.
Chase Purdy, Driver Q&A:
How will you approach the final four races of the regular season with currently being below the cutoff?
“Obviously, we need to take it race-by-race, but everyone on this Bama Buggies team knows that we have a goal to accomplish and the only way to accomplish that goal is to go out there and be able to run up front and collect as many points as possible the next four weeks.”
Nashville is a unique track. How do you approach racing there?
“It’s a fun race track that I personally really like. It’s definitely a track that is full of its own challenges. One being that it’s not like our typical ovals, this one is concrete, so in my opinion there is going to be a lot of rubber laid down. By the time we get to our race Friday evening, both Xfinity and Cup will have had hour-long practice sessions after our practice and qualifying. What I remember from last year is that after we got through the first stage, you could run a little bit of the second groove in Turns 1 and 2 and Turns 3 and 4. We preach that track position is key every week, but I think that track position is going to be even more important this week at Nashville.”
Chase Purdy Career Highlights:
- Across 64 career Truck Series starts, has produced 20 laps led, two top-five and 11 top-10 finishes. Posted a career-best runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April of 2023.
- Finished 16th in Truck Series championship standings in 2022.
- Finished fourth in the 2018 ARCA Menard’s Series championship standings after recording 84 laps led, 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.
- Earned the 2017 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East rookie of the year honors and finished fourth in the championship standings after posting four poles, 200 laps led, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes across 14 starts.
- Won the prestigious Snowflake 100 Pro Late Model race at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., in Dec. of 2018.
Chase Purdy’s No. 4 Chevrolet Silverado RST:
KBM-38: The No. 4 Bama Buggies team will unload KBM-38 for Friday’s race at Nashville. Purdy finished seventh with this Silverado earlier this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway and 16th most recently with it at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “38 Special” has seven career victories. Its most recent victory came with John Hunter Nemechek at Texas Motor Speedway in June of 2021. Nemechek raced KBM-38 three times in 2022, with a best result of fourth coming in June at Nashville.
KBM-38 Performance Profile:
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have collected two wins, two poles, 319 laps led, two top-five and four top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.0 across eight starts at Nashville.
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch picked up the organization’s first-ever victory at the 1.33-mile oval in 2010 and won again in 2011, both from the pole.
- KBM holds the Craftsman Truck Series records for most career wins (99) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway last year, Corey Heim became the 18th different driver to win a Truck Series event for KBM. In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers: Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
- The No. 4 has 18 career victories at KBM and was the number for both of the organization’s driver championships.
