Chase Purdy: Driver, No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Overview:
Event: North Carolina Education Lottery 200, Race 11 of 23, 134 Laps – 30/30/74; 201 Miles
Location: Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mile, quad-oval)
Date/Broadcast: May 26, 2023, at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
‘Chase’n Checkers:
Chase Purdy and the No. 4 Bama Buggies team head to Charlotte Motor Speedway for Friday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200. Purdy has finished eighth or better in three of the four mile-and-half races this season, including a career-best runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April. The Mississippi native has two prior starts in the Truck Series at Charlotte, with a best result of 15th coming in last year’s race.
Friday night’s race at Charlotte will be the first 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 are eligible to participate in those events, with each race having extra money on the line. If a driver wins one of the three races they will earn a $50,000 bonus, if they win two of the three races, they will earn a $150,000 bonus and if the same driver is able to win all three races, they will earn a $500,000 bonus. In its four year history, no driver has won all three races.
Despite being only 10 races into the 2023 season, Purdy enters Friday night’s race having already produced a career-high five top-10 finishes, including an eighth-place result last week at North Wilkesboro. With six races remaining in the regular season he sits 13th in the driver point standings and 14th on the playoff grid, 32 points below the cutoff line for making the postseason.
Purdy will be trying to etch his mark in the KBM historical archives Friday at Charlotte 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 dominant 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. Seven of KBM’s wins have come at Charlotte, six with Busch and one with Nemechek.
The Mississippi native is in his third full-time season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and first with KBM. He enters Saturday’s race having totaled one top-five, 10 top-10 finishes, and 18 laps led across his 62 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 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. Villeneuve has guided one Truck Series start at Charlotte, a 16th-place finish with John Wes Townley 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 Friday 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:
You’ve had three top-10 finishes on mile-and-half tracks this year. Are you looking forward to Friday?
“I’m excited to get to Charlotte and the chance to race on another mile-and-a-half track. We’ve shown a lot of speed and we’ve had some good runs on those types of tracks this year. Our most recent one, I thought we had a truck capable of winning and just some unfortunate things happened. Hoping to change some of that luck around and have a good weekend!”
Is the Charlotte race one of the bigger races on the Truck Series schedule?
“Charlotte is always a big one because everyone wants to win at home. This race is in everybody’s back yard and to win this one it would be really special. It makes a statement to go out and win in front of everybody in your back yard. I’ll have a lot of family and friends at the track so this will be a big weekend for us.”
Does the first race of the Triple Truck Challenge make it an even bigger race?
“Obviously everybody wants to make as much money as they can on a normal weekend but since this is one of the Triple Truck Challenge races it definitely ups the stakes a little bit. I’m going to approach the weekend like it’s a normal race, go out there and try to put everything together and win. Our trucks are fast enough to do it, we just need to limit our mistakes.”
Chase Purdy Career Highlights:
- Across 62 career Truck Series starts, has produced 18 laps led, one top-five and 10 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 Charlotte. Purdy finished seventh with this Silverado earlier this season at Atlanta 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 Superspeedway.
KBM-38 Performance Profile:
KBM Notes of Interest:
- 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).
- Across 36 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway, KBM drivers have earned seven wins, three poles, 15 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 9.6 and an average finish of 8.7. John Hunter Nemechek picked up KBM’s most recent Charlotte victory in 2021. Prior to that, owner-driver Kyle Busch had collected all six of his organization’s wins (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018).
- The No. 4 has 18 career victories at KBM and was the number for both of the organization’s driver championships.
