Chase Purdy- No. 4 Bama Buggies Silverado Craftsman Trucks Circuit of the Americas Preview - Speedway Digest

‘Chase’n Checkers:

Chase Purdy will look to build off the momentum of registering back-to-back top-10 finishes for the first time in his career as the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to Circuit of Americas (COTA) for the fourth race of the season. Purdy finished eighth in the second race of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and most recently finished seventh in the series last stop at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 23-year-old driver enters this week’s race at COTA eighth in the Craftsman Truck Series point standings, 34 tallies behind points leader Christian Eckes.

In his two prior Truck Series starts at Circuit of the Americas, Purdy has compiled an overall average finish of 21.5, achieving a track-best 16th-place finish in last year’s event. His best career finish on a road course in the Truck Series was a 13th-place finish in last year’s race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

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 seven top-10 finishes and 18 laps led across his 55 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 will be looking to etch his mark in the KBM historical archives this weekend at COTA as he looks to collect the organization’s 100th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory. KBM-owner driver Kyle Busch collected the KBM’s record-extending 99th-career victory with his dominant victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway leaving his organization one shy of the century mark. William Byron collected KBM’s record-breaking 51st Truck Series victory in July of 2016. 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.

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. Saturday’s race will be Villeneuve’s first calling the shots for a race at Circuit of the Americas.

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:

Chase Purdy | Circuit of the Americas Preview

Do you enjoy road course racing?

“I used to hate it, but now I actually kind of like it — COTA specifically. COTA is probably my favorite road course that I get to race and that I have raced. I’m actually really excited to get to Austin this week and to race COTA.”

What do you think not having stage breaks will do to the flow of the race on Saturday?

“I think it will affect people’s strategy — when they come to pit road and where they want to position themselves for the end of the race. Kind of going back to how it was years ago when you didn’t have stage breaks and you just ran until there was an actual caution or the end of the race. I think there will be a lot of green flag stops, I think that opens the door for that. Just being mindful of the rules changes this weekend and positioning yourself to where you can be there at the end of the race without having stage breaks.”

Evaluate how your team has performed over the first three races.

“I think we are obviously figuring out how to put together races and run consistently up front. We only want to get better from here. I think that if we can continue to get better every week and just get a little bit more at a time, I think one of these days we can finish one off and lock ourselves into the playoffs. Then we can concentrate on continue to have consistent finishes and run strong every week.”

Chase Purdy Career Highlights:

Across 55 career Truck Series starts, has produced 18 laps led and seven 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.