Chase Purdy: Driver, No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Overview:
Event: CRC Brakleen 150, Race 15 of 23, 60 Laps – 15/15/30; 150 Miles
Location: Pocono Raceway (2.5-mile tri-oval)
Date/Broadcast: July 22, 2023, at noon ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
‘Chase’n a Playoff Spot:
Chase Purdy and the No. 4 Bama Buggies team head to Pocono Raceway for Saturday’s CRC Brakleen 150 continuing to battle for a spot in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs. Purdy enters the 60-lap event 13th in the Truck Series point standings, with just two races remaining in the regular season and 10 drivers qualifying for the playoffs. Over the last five races, Purdy has registered an average finish of 9.6 with three top-10 results. Unfortunately, during that span he has gone from being 40 points below the cutoff line to 49 points below. In the Truck Series’ last stop at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, he came from the 24th starting position to finish 13th.
Across three Truck Series starts at Pocono, Purdy has an average finish of 15.7 with a best result of 11th coming in last year’s race. He also has competed in two ARCA Menards Series races at the Pennsylvania track, producing an average finish of 6.0 with a best result of third coming in the July race in 2018.
The Mississippi native entered the 2022 season having never earned a top-five result in Truck Series action but has produced two across 14 races in his first season at Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM), including a career-best runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April. He has already produced a career-high seven top-10 finishes this season, after posting just two each in 2021 and 2022.
Purdy will be trying to etch his mark in the KBM historical archives this weekend at Pocono 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 triumph 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: William Byron, Christopher Bell, Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek. Seven of KBM’s wins have come at Pocono. Starting with Busch’s win in 2015, a KBM driver has won seven of the last eight Truck Series events at Pocono, including Chandler Smith last year. The exception was Ross Chastain’s win in 2019.
The 23-year-old driver 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 66 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. Villeneuve has been on top of the pit box for two races at Pocono with a best result of 11th coming with Todd Bodine in the 2013 event.
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:
What is the trickiest part of “The Tricky Triangle?
“I would definitely say the tunnel turn. It’s rough and I think every time that you go through it guys just kind of hold their breath because it’s hard to keep your truck stable — it gets really light through there.”
How does having such short stage lengths affect how the race plays out at Pocono?
“I think it puts a bigger emphasis on qualifying. It’s important to put down a good lap because you don’t want to get behind the eight ball before the race even starts. You don’t want to have to play strategy to get yourself track position and try to contend; you want to be able to contend from the drop of the green flag. In a situation like we are in, we need to go out there and run up front, lead laps and try everything that we can to put ourselves in a position to win the race.”
Chase Purdy Career Highlights:
- Across 66 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-79: The No. 4 Bama Buggies team will unload KBM-79, a brand new Silverado, for Saturday’s race at Pocono Raceway.
KBM Notes of Interest:
- Across 32 starts at Pocono, KBM drivers have earned seven wins, two poles, 325 laps led, 17 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 8.8 and an average finish of 8.5.
- Chandler Smith picked up the organization’s most recent win at Pocono last year. KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch has tallied two wins (2015 and 2018) at the 2.5-mile track while Smith (2022), John Hunter Nemechek (2021), Brandon Jones (2020), Christopher Bell (2017), and William Byron (2016) each have one win.
- 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.
