Chase Purdy matched his best finish of the 2022 season on Saturday night at Kansas Speedway as he delivered a 13th-place result. The driver of the No. 61 BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pro collected his fourth top-15 finish of the year in his fourth start in Kansas. Purdy remains 18th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings after eight events.
Purdy turned in his best qualifying effort of the season by posting the 14th-fastest lap in time trials on Friday afternoon and instantly moved forward at the drop of the green flag. Shrewd maneuvers on the start allowed Purdy to briefly crack the top-10 and settle into the 12th position. During the opening 30-lap stage, Purdy battled a free handling condition on corner entry and was scored 13th at the end of Stage 1.
The No. 61 HRE team delivered a strong four tire pit stop under the caution which netted Purdy the 10th position. As the ambient temperature and track cooled during the race’s second segment, Purdy battled a tight condition on the exit of both corners. He maintained his position in the top 15 and was scored 14th at the end of Stage 2 on lap 60.
Crew chief Matt Lucas armed Purdy with a fresh set of tires and potent chassis adjustments under the caution. After restarted 13th on lap 68, Purdy muscled his way back into the top 10 on lap 69 and held the ninth position over a 24-lap green flag run. Purdy pitted for the final time under the caution, but suffered a penalty for pitting outside the pit box. The Meridan, Miss. driver clawed his way back up the leaderboard after restarting 23rd on lap 96 in resilient fashion. The race’s final caution waved on lap 121 an allowed Purdy to line up with the rest of the lead lap trucks. He selected the shorter, yet less effective inside line to gain positions for the lap 126 restart. Purdy was able to hang tough on the inside lane and finish 13th to match his best mark of the season.
Chase Purdy Quote:
“Something clicked tonight and we had a lot of speed in our BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Matt (Lucas) and the guys made a really good adjustment on the second pit stop and we were able to drive our way into the top-10. I made a mistake getting into the box on our last stop that hurt us, because we definitely had a truck that was capable of finishing in the top-10. We were definitely better than what our finish showed, but it was good to be able to respond and get 10 of those spots back. I’m excited and ready to go to Texas after the speed we had tonight.”
HRE PR
