Chase Purdy earned a career best finish Saturday evening in the Eddie Gilstrap Motors 200 at the Salem Speedway Saturday evening crossing the stripe in sixth. The start marked the 17-year-olds second start with the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.
“Salem is one of the coolest places I’ve raced at,” Purdy stated after the race. “We had a lot of speed this evening, especially on the long runs and it showed. We would have liked to ended up with a podium finish tonight. Unfortunately, we made contact with the wall with about ten laps to go and it hurt the right front. I can’t thank MMM enough for everything. They work really hard and I appreciate them never giving up.”
Prior to the race, fans were able to sign the No. 78 “2001 Pepsi 400” throwback paint scheme during the driver autograph session on the track.
“It was an honor to race Dale Jr.’s throwback tonight. The fans really enjoyed it and they loved being able to sign the car and I take great pride in that.”
Purdy’s car came to life on the long runs Saturday evening. After halfway Purdy was in the seventh spot. In less than 30 laps the No. 78 Bama Buggies Chevrolet found its way up front as he moved into the runner-up spot at lap 131 passing veteran Tom Hessert. A caution two laps later at lap 133 brought all of the leaders down pit-road for their final pit-stop. The No. 78 team delivered a great stop, sending Purdy back to the track in the third position.
The NASCAR Next star continued to race in the top-five during the late stages and took the fourth position when two drivers ahead of him made contact for position. Unfortunately, a handful of laps later the No. 78 made contact with the wall with the front dropping the No. 78 from fourth to sixth.
Purdy will be back behind the wheel of the No. 78 for the final time of the 2017 season in two weeks at the Kentucky Speedway.
The Eddie Gilstrap Motors 100 will air on MAVTV later this month.
It’s a quick turnaround for MMM as the team will get ready to head to Chicagoland Speedway and race under the lights Thursday evening at the 1.5-mile track located in Joliet, Illinois.
MMM driver Kyle Weatherman will return behind the wheel of the No. 78 for the first time since racing at the Iowa Speedway in July. Michael Self will return for his third race of 2017 with MMM driving the No. 88.
SCOTT 150
Next up for ARCA is The Scott 150 at the Chicagoland Speedway Thursday, September 14th. It marks the first of three 1.5-mile tracks to end the 2017 ARCA season. Drivers will practice from 2:00-3:30. General Tire pole qualifying will set the field for the 100-lap race at 5:30 PM. Then the SCOTT 150 will get the green flag at 8:00 PM. The race will be live on
FOX Sports 1 at 8:00 PM. Arcaracing.com will have live timing and scoring for all on-track activities.
MMM PR
