Chase Purdy collected a 20th-place finish on Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series second dirt race of the season. The driver of the No. 61 BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pro maintained his career-high position in the series championship standings in 15th after posting his best finish in two starts at the storied Iowa dirt track.
Purdy finished seventh in the third of four heat races, which earned him four points and the 27th starting spot for the 150-lap main event. The Meridian, Miss. product immediately went forward in the opening laps, but was quickly faced with adversity. On lap five, the No. 40 truck spin in the middle of Turns 1 and 2 and collected Purdy, rendering significant cosmetic damage to the nose of the No. 61 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Purdy stayed on track for the remainder of Stage 1 and was scored 21st at lap 40.
Crew chief Matt Lucas and the BAMA Buggies team equipped Purdy with fresh tires, fuel and adjustments under the three-minute stage break to aid his lack of rear security and forward drive. Purdy made incremental gains throughout the following 50-lap segment and was scored 20th at the end of Stage 2 at lap 90.
The HRE team continued with more of the same service under the second stage break. As the Knoxville Raceway track crew regroomed the racing surface, Purdy received sizable chassis adjustments and tires to aid his lack of drive on exit of both corners. Purdy ran as high as 17th, narrowly escaping significant calamity on lap 127 went multiple trucks made contact on the exit of Turn 4. Despite keeping his Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in one piece in the waning laps, Purdy took the checkers in 20th position.
Chase Purdy Quote:
“We just fought a lack of forward drive all night, but it definitely wasn’t from a lack of effort. It seemed like the top (lane) was a lot more usable tonight than last year, but we just couldn’t find the bite on exit we needed with our BAMA Buggies Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Matt (Lucas) and the guys worked hard and we took some big swings at it, but couldn’t quite find what we needed. We’re done with dirt racing for the year, so we can go to Nashville next week and regain our momentum that we’ve built over the last few weeks and get back on track.”
HRE PR
