Chase Purdy routed his season in a positive direction with a resilient 14th-place finish on Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS). The driver of the No. 61 BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pro rallied from sustaining damage in Stage 1 to post his second career top-15 finish at LVMS.
The Meridian, Mississippi driver delivered a strong qualifying lap of 30.75 seconds, which placed him on the provisional pole early in qualifying but started 19th as track conditions cooled significantly during time trials. Purdy held his position inside the top-20 from the outset while wrestling a loose handling condition before a caution on lap 22 allowed him a chance to pit for adjustments. Crew chief Matt Lucas equipped Purdy with four tires, fuel, and a spring adjustment in the left rear to improve the balance. The ensuing restart on lap 28 saw several lead trucks tangle and trigger a multi-truck accident that involved Purdy. He suffered damage to the left rear, tail, and nose of his Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.
Two pit stops under the stage caution allowed the BAMA Buggies team to adequately repair the No. 61 and provided Purdy with a truck that would remain competitive throughout the balance of the evening. After being scored as low as 30th at the end of Stage 1, Purdy methodically worked his way up the leaderboard into 20th by the end of Stage 2 on lap 60. Lucas and the No. 61 HRE team bolted on four fresh tires, fuel, and gave Purdy additional chassis adjustments to tighten his handling balance.
Purdy restarted in 16th position on lap 68 and contended for a spot inside the top-15 until the final pit stop under the lap 97 caution. He restarted 15th on lap 103 and battled for track position throughout the final three restarts of the evening over the closing 25 laps. The final three-lap dash to the checkered flag saw Purdy move from 16th to take the checkered flag in 15th position. Due to a disqualification in post-race technical inspection, Purdy was credited with a 14th-place finish.
Chase Purdy Quote:
“We didn’t want to have to work with a beat-up truck, but it feels nice to have a decent finish and get our season going in the right direction. Our BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pro took a little bit of a beating early on when we got caught up in that mess in Turn 1 and we had quite a bit of damage to the tail and right front. We were on the free side for most of the night, but Matt (Lucas) and all the guys on this team kept their heads in it and made adjustments throughout the night to get a decent finish. Hopefully we can build on this at Atlanta and get our first top-10 of the year in a couple weeks.”
HRE PR
