Chase Purdy: Driver, No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Overview:
Event: Baptist Health 200, Race 22 of 23, 134 Laps- 30/30/74; 201 Miles
Location: Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile, oval)
Date/Broadcast: Oct. 21, 2023, at noon ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
‘Chase’n Wins:
Chase Purdy and the No. 4 team head to Homestead-Miami Superspeedway for Saturday’s Baptist Health 200. The team has shown increased speed down the stretch of the 2023 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule boasting an average starting position of 3.0 across the last four races. Purdy captured his first career pole at Kansas Speedway in September and a second one at the series’ last stop at Talladega Superspeedway. The Mississippi native led 11 laps at Talladega before getting caught up in a crash that relegated him to a 28th-place finish.
The 23-year-old driver has gained two positions in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series point standings since the start of the playoffs and now ranks 11th, which is the highest that a non-playoff driver can finish. Purdy entered the 2022 season having never earned a top-five result in Truck Series action but has produced two across 21 races in his first season at KBM. He has also produced a career-high nine top-10 finishes this season, after posting just two each in 2021 and 2022.
Purdy has just one career start at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He started 10th and finished 16th in last year’s race at the 1.5-mile oval. Across six starts on mile-and-a-half tracks this season the No. 4 team has produced an average starting position of 8.4 and an average finish of 13.2. They have finished inside the top 10 in half of those starts including Purdy’s career best runner-up finish at Texas in April.
The No. 4 team will be rolling out KBM-79, which is the same chassis that Purdy captured the pole with at Kansas Speedway last month.
Purdy is in his third full-time season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and first with KBM. He 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.
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 second race calling the shots for a race at Homestead-Miami. He earned a 19th-place finish with Brady Boswell in the 2016 event after qualifying ninth.
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.
Nimnicht Chevrolet will serve as an associate sponsor adorning the tailgate of Purdy’s Silverado Saturday. A full-service dealership located in Jacksonville, Fla., Nimnicht has served Florida as a family-owned and operated Chevy dealership since 1941. Nimnicht specializes in all things Chevy, including Chevy auto sales, financing, parts, and service. Go to www.nimnichtchevy.com to view their inventory of new and certified pre-owned vehicles.
Chase Purdy, Driver Q&A:
Having limited experience at Homestead-Miami, how will you prepare for this race?
“I’ll approach this one just like any other weekend, watching film and going to the simulator. Being that it is a track that I don’t have as much experience at, I’m being diligent with watching film and constantly making notes for myself and talking to guys that are really good there. We’ve had fast trucks all season long and watching what KBM has been able to do there in years past, I think we should have another fast Bama Buggies Silverado. Just as long as I do my job and we all execute we’ll be fine.”
Do you feel like that speed that you showed at Kansas will translate over to this race at Homestead-Miami since it’s another multi-groove mile-and-a-half race track?
“Certainly — I don’t see why it shouldn’t. We’re bringing the same Bama Buggies Silverado we raced at Kansas, and we all saw how fast it was there. The only reason we didn’t get the result we deserved at Kansas was because of some mishaps that were out of our control. I’m looking forward to it, the ability to run multiple grooves makes it an exciting race. It will be fun for the drivers and for the fans.”
Chase Purdy Career Highlights:
- Across 73 career Truck Series starts, has produced one pole, 21 laps led, two top-five and 14 top-10 finishes. Posted a career-best runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April of 2023. Earned first career pole in September of 2023 at Kansas Speedway.
- 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 for Saturday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This Silverado is the same truck that Purdy captured his first career pole with in September at Kansas Speedway. He was relegated to a 14th-place result at Kansas after having to hit pit road due to a loose wheel. This Chevy made its debut at Pocono Raceway, where Purdy qualified 10th and finished 18th.
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have collected five wins, one pole, 416 laps led, 12 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.6 across 32 starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Owner-driver Kyle Busch has three victories at Homestead-Miami, winning most recently in 2020 as well as in 2010 and 2013. Darrell Wallace Jr. (2014) and William Byron (2016) each have one victory at the Florida track.
- KBM holds the Craftsman Truck Series records for most career wins (100) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch picked up his organization’s first-ever win at Nashville Superspeedway in April of 2010 and also picked up its 100th Truck Series victory at Pocono Raceway in July of 2023. 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.
