Chase Purdy displayed immense speed on Friday night but was relegated to a 25th-place finish at Kansas Speedway. The driver of the No. 61 BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pro was constructing his best performance of the season until a pit road penalty in the final segment derailed his impressive run. With four races remaining, Purdy sits 16th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series point standings.
Purdy began the 134-lap affair from the 22nd position and immediately contended with a tight condition during the opening 30-lap stint. The Meridian, Miss. native was scored 22ndat the end of Stage 1 on lap 30 and came to pit road to the attention of crew chief Matt Lucas and the HRE team for four tires, fuel, and adjustments.
Quick work by the BAMA Buggies squad netted Purdy five positions and allowed him to restart 17th on lap 38. The ensuing 23-lap green flag run saw Purdy make marginal gains with the handling condition on his Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. He was scored in 20th position at the end of Stage 2 on lap 60 and returned to pit road for additional adjustments, four tires, and fuel.
Purdy’s second pit stop produced an additional two positions and allowed him to restart 18th on lap 65. The adjustments that Lucas and the HRE team made to the BAMA Buggies Toyota allowed Purdy to advance up the leaderboard and into the top-15 on a lap 82 restart. His forward progress continued as he cracked the top-10 on lap 88 and consistently posted lap times inside the top-seven. On lap 104, Purdy made his final pit stop during an extended green flag cycle for four tires, fuel, and chassis adjustments. However, Purdy was nabbed for speeding on pit road entry and was forced to serve a drive-through penalty. The infraction relegated him to 28th and ultimately a 25th-place finish.
Chase Purdy Quote:
“We had such a good BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pro tonight. I was really looking forward to coming back here because of how well we ran in the spring, and we definitely backed it up. I made a mistake on pit road during that green flag stop and cost us a chance at a good finish. There were a few guys that stretched their fuel, but we could have been right there for a top-10. Matt and all the guys on our team did a great job improving the truck throughout the race and we found some more speed as we got a little bit cleaner air. We’ll go on to Bristol next week and try to keep this speed and execute a little better.”
HRE PR
