NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Overview:
Event: O’Reilly Auto Parts 150, Race 14 of 23, 67 Laps – 20/20/27; 151.28 Miles
Location: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (2.258-mile, 13-turn road course)
Date/Broadcast: July 8, 2023, at 1:30 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 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 battling for a spot in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs. Purdy has recorded an average finish of 20.0 across six career starts on road courses. He finished 13th in last year’s race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course after qualifying 22nd, earning his best career finish on a road course in the Truck Series.
In preparation for Saturday’s race at Mid-Ohio, Purdy and other Chevrolet drivers traveled to the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course in May for a track day, where they made laps in Chevrolet Camaros under the tutelage of road course ace Ron Fellows.
Purdy entered the 2022 season having never earned a top-five result in Truck Series action but has produced two across 13 races in his first season at Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM), including a career-best runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April. The 23-year-old driver has already produced a career-high seven top-10 finishes this season, after posting just two each in 2021 and 2022. In the Truck Series’ last stop at Nashville Superspeedway, he came from the 12th starting position to finish sixth.
Over the last four races, Purdy has registered an average finish of 8.7 with three top-10 results. Unfortunately, during that span has only trimmed his deficit from being 40 points the cutoff line to 39 points below with just three races remaining in the regular season.
Purdy will be trying to etch his mark in the KBM historical archives this weekend at Mid-Ohio as he looks to collect the organization’s 100th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory. KBM-owner driver Kyle Busch collected KBM’s record-extending 99th-career victory with his victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this year leaving his organization one 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: Byron, Christopher Bell, Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek. Two of KBM’s wins have come on road courses: Busch at Sonoma Raceway last year and Erik Jones at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in 2015.
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, 12 top-10 finishes, and 20 laps led across his 65 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. This will be Villeneuve’s first time calling a race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He has been on top of the pit box for two road course races in his career. His best result was a 12th-place finish with John Wes Townley at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in 2016.
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 Saturday 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 does Mid-Ohio compare to other road courses that you’ve raced at?
“I like Mid-Ohio. In a weird sense it races kind of like a short track but it’s a road course – as weird as that sounds. It’s very hard on tires and there will be some beating and banging and sliding around, so it makes for great racing and a good show for the fans. It kind of gives you that short track feel with some bump and runs. It’s definitely my favorite of the road courses that we go to in the Truck Series.”
You were able to go to Mid-Ohio for a track day earlier this year. How beneficial will that be with limited practice time?
“I think any time you can go and get laps, get an idea of the track layout and the feel of things, find certain patches and grooves before you go there for the real thing is always beneficial no matter what type of vehicle you are in. I’m not really a road course expert but having already been there is a big advantage. I ran decent there last year and hoping to do a lot better this year in KBM equipment.”
Chase Purdy Career Highlights:
- Across 65 career Truck Series starts, has produced 20 laps led, two top-five and 12 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-76: The No. 4 Bama Buggies team will unload KBM-76 for Saturday’s race at Mid-Ohio. This was a brand new Silverado for Purdy when he finished 27th at Circuit of the Americas earlier this year.
KBM-76 Performance Profile:
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have one pole and one top-10 finish across three starts at Mid-Ohio. Corey Heim won the pole for last year’s inaugural race while Chandler Smith was the best finishing KBM driver with a sixth-place finish.
- Overall across 43 road course starts, KBM drivers have collected two victories: Kyle Busch at Sonoma Raceway last year and Erik Jones at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in 2015.
- 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.
