Chase Purdy: Driver, No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Overview:
Event: Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200, Race 2 of 23, 134 Laps – 30/30/74; 201 Miles
Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile tri-oval)
Date/Broadcast: March 3, 2023, at 9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
‘Chase’n Checkers:
Chase Purdy will make his second start for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) behind the wheel of the No. 4 Bama Buggies Silverado in Friday night’s Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 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 night’s race having totaled five top-10 finishes and 18 laps led across his 53 career Truck Series starts. He posted a career-best sixth-place result in 2021 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. Purdy finished 16th in the Truck Series 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 (Ala.) Superspeedway in October.
Purdy had a respectable debut for KBM in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway. He posted the second fastest lap in the opening round of single-truck qualifying, but due to a flat tire incurred during his lap was unable to post a lap in the final round. Despite officially being recorded as the 10th starter, the No. 4 Chevrolet started at the back of the field per the NASCAR rules of making an unapproved adjustment when they replaced the flat tire. The team used pit strategy in the opening stage to get out front for Stage 2. Purdy would end the second stanza and in the second position before employing a strategy of falling to the back early in the Final Stage in an effort to avoid the big wrecks and be in a position to capitalize in the closing stages of the race. Fortunately, he missed two big wrecks. Unfortunately, shortly after missing the wrecks rain began to fall and the race would be deemed official with 79 of the 100 laps completed with Purdy in the 17th position.
In four prior Truck Series starts at Las Vegas, Purdy has compiled an overall average finish of 19.3, but in his last two has an average finish of 13.5. His best result was a 13th-place finish in the fall of 2021. The chassis he will be piloting on Friday has won the pole twice at Las Vegas. John Hunter Nemechek captured the pole and led 24 laps with KBM-56 in the spring race at Las Vegas last year, before being relegated to a 25th-place finish. He also won the pole for the fall race with it in 2021, where he led 33 laps before being relegated to a 33rd-place finish.
The Mississippi native is part of a new-look KBM that switched to the Chevrolet camp in the off-season with two full-time entries of its own and a technical alliance on REV Racing’s first-ever entry in the Truck Series. The manufacturer switch aligned with owner-driver Kyle Busch’s signing with Richard Childress Racing for 2023, one of the premier Chevrolet teams in the Cup Series. Across its 13 seasons with Toyota, KBM collected and amazing seven owner’s championships (2010, 2013 – 2017 and 2019), two driver championships (Erik Jones 2015 and Christopher Bell 2017) and a Truck Series-record 98 wins. Under the Toyota banner, KBM won the last five spring races at Las Vegas with Chandler Smith winning last year, John Hunter Nemechek in 2022 and owner-driver Kyle Busch winning three straight spring events at his hometown venue from 2018 to 2020.
Since becoming a full-time entry for KBM in 2015, the No. 4 truck has captured both of KBM’s driver championships and totaled 18 wins with five different drivers. The number has found victory lane for KBM in six of its seven seasons, excluding 2018. John Hunter Nemechek piloted the No. 4 to seven wins in his two seasons behind the wheel (2021 and 2022) before moving into a full-time ride in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for 2023.
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 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. Friday night’s race will be Villeneuve’s first calling the shots for a race at Las Vegas.
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:
Despite not having the result you wanted, how did everything go at Daytona in your first race with KBM?
“I was really pleased with the speed we had in our Bama Buggies Chevy and how well it handled. I think that in Stage Two we were up their mixing it up and really were able to show the speed we had in our truck. Really happy with how things went at Daytona and expecting to come to Las Vegas with the same speed and unload with a truck that handles well just like we did at Daytona.”
Do you enjoy racing at Las Vegas?
“I like Las Vegas, I like when you go somewhere that you can run multiple lanes and your not just stuck running one lane. It’s a very racy track and the restarts are crazy. It’s just a really fun place to race at, especially at night under the lights and I look forward to getting out there and seeing what we can do with our Bama Buggies No. 4 Chevy.
Talk about the opportunity to have Kyle as your teammate this weekend.
“Obviously he’s coming off a big win in the Cup Series, so I’m excited to work with him as a teammate in the Truck Series and hear what he has to say about the handling of his truck compared to what I’m feeling. I think it’s a really big opportunity for me to maybe learn some things that I need to do to be better since we’ll be unloading with trucks that are setup very similar.”
Chase Purdy Career Highlights:
- Across 53 career Truck Series starts, has produced 18 laps led and five top-10 finishes. Posted career-best sixth-place result at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in 2021
- 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-56: The No. 4 Bama Buggies team will unload KBM-56 for Friday’s race at Las Vegas. This chassis has two career victories across 16 starts, most recently with John Hunter Nemechek at Kansas Speedway last September. Nemechek also won with KBM-56 at Pocono Raceway in June of 2021. Nemechek won the pole at led 24 laps with this truck in the spring race at Las Vegas last year, before being relegated to a 25th-place finish. He also won the pole for the fall race in 2021 where he led 33 laps before being relegated to a 33rd-place finish.
KBM-56 Performance Profile:
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have collected six wins, five poles, 774 laps led, 16 top-five and 23 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.9 across 45 starts at Las Vegas. KBM has won the last five spring races at the Nevada track, with Chandler Smith winning last year, John Hunter Nemechek in 2021 and owner-driver Kyle Busch winning three consecutive from 2018 to 2020. Erik Jones was victorious in the fall of 2014. Combined across the last five spring races, a KBM truck has been out front for 73% of the total laps (491/670).
- KBM holds the Craftsman Truck Series records for most career wins (98) 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.
