Pit Stop Radio News

• In five NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, Spire Motorsports has logged one top-five and two top-10 finishes. Kyle Busch drove the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado to a runner-up finish at “The Last Great Coliseum” in March, a venue-best for the team. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolets full time in the NCTS. An all-star driver lineup will rotate throughout the 2024 season in the No. 7 Chevy. Rajah Caruth drives the No. 71 entry and Chase Purdy rounds out the team’s fleet of Chevrolet Silverados in the No. 77.
• The UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics from Bristol Motor Speedway will be televised live on FS1 Thursday, Sept. 19, beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The 18th of 23 NCTS races on the 2024 schedule will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Chase Purdy – Driver, No.77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado

• Chase Purdy will drive Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silveradoin Thursday’s UNOH 200.
• In the Truck Series’ March visit to “The Last Great Coliseum,” Purdy was competing for a top-10 position when a mechanical issue forced him behind the wall. He was credited with a 33rd-place finish.
• Last August, Purdy was one of five trucks to spend the entire 200 laps in the top 15 and logged the sixth-highest average running position (6.95) en route to an eighth-place finish.
• The UNOH 200 will mark Purdy’s 93rd NCTS start and 18th behind the wheel of the No. 77 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports.
• The Meridian, Miss., native earned his best finish of the year on a short track, a third-place finish at Martinsville Speedway in April.
• The 24-year-old competed in the inaugural Short Track U.S. Nationals at Bristol in the Super Late Model division in 2017. He crossed the stripe in the ninth position.
• Purdy finished third in the 11-race Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge series within the 2018 ARCA Racing Series season. He racked up six top fives and nine top 10s while achieving a sixth-place average starting position and a 6.9 average finish.
• While racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2023, Purdy had the best statistical season of his career. He earned three top-five, 11 top-10 and 14 top-15 finishes while notching a career-best finish of second at Texas Motor Speedway (April 1) and claiming his first career Truck Series pole at Kansas Speedway (Sept. 8). He would snag his second career pole two races later at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (Sept. 30), a race in which he led a career-high 11 laps.
• Crew chief Jason Trinchere has called three Xfinity Series races at Bristol, highlighted by a victory in 2021 with A.J. Allmendinger.
• As a design engineer at Team Penske, Trinchere racked up four wins at “The Last Great Coliseum.” He helped the historic team to back-to-back victories in the Bristol Night Race with Joey Logano in 2014 and 2015, in addition to Xfinity Series triumphs with Ryan Blaney (fall 2014) and Logano (spring 2015).
• Purdy will be behind the wheel of Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-058 Thursday evening. The truck will be making its 26th appearance on the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series circuit, visiting Victory Lane four times with Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek in the cockpit.
•  Purdy and Caruth will participate in a Q&A session Thursday at 1:15 p.m. at the Food City Fan Zone Stage. 

Chase Purdy Quotes 
The last two trips to Bristol you put great together great runs. How do you look to carry the momentum into Thursday night?
“We need to keep our head down and prevent mental errors. We have great momentum at Bristol, we just need to ride that wave and continue to build off our great runs.”
In the past, you had the opportunity to race a Super Late Model at “The Last Great Coliseum.” How much different does the Super Late Model and the truck drive at the track?
“You can draw zero comparisons between the two. They drive completely different. A Super Late Model is a lot lighter and nimble compared to a big, heavy stock car. There’s not much I can take from one to the other, but the extra track time under my belt definitely helps.”

Rajah Caruth – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado

• Rajah Caruth will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado in Thursday evening’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Caruth and the No. 71 team qualified for the NCTS playoffs via their win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ending the regular season fifth in the series’ championship point standings. Caruth and Co. are seeded 10th on the playoff grid, four points below the Round of Eight cutline. Bristol marks the second of three races in the Round of 10, which concludes next Friday, Sept. 27 at Kansas Speedway.
• In the NCTS Playoff opener at The Milwaukee Mile, the Washington D.C. native qualified eighth and battled through a day full of adversity to finish 17th.
• In the Truck Series’ March trip to “Thunder Valley,” Caruth racked up the second-most green flag passes in the field (35) and took the checkered flag in eighth. The finish marked his fourth consecutive top-10 effort to open the year.
• HendrickCars.com is the online home for everything Hendrick Automotive Group. Visitors can shop thousands of new or pre-owned vehicles, locate centers for service and collision repair, receive a value to sell or trade their car, chat online with customer service, discover career opportunities, learn more about vehicle protections programs, and explore how the company gives back to the community.
• Caruth is no stranger to Bristol, making his fourth appearance on the concrete configuration in a truck. He has a pair of ARCA Menards Series starts in addition to a lone NASCAR Xfinity Series start at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile.”
• After collecting a fourth-place finish in the 2022 ARCA event, Caruth jumped aboard Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Silverado for the third time on the season. An on-track incident ended his evening doubleheader 156 laps early.
• Last September, Caruth matched his then career-best finish in a truck (sixth) while racking up the second-most quality passes in the field (19). He returned to the track one day later to finish 17th behind the wheel of an Alpha Prime Racing entry in the 300-lap Xfinity Series event.
• “Concrete Caruth” has a 6.3 average finish on concrete tracks this season with finishes of eighth, seventh and fourth at Bristol, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, respectively.
• With his first career NCTS win and pole position earlier this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Caruth became the third African American driver, alongside NASCAR Hall of Famer, Wendell Scott and current NASCAR Cup Series regular Bubba Wallace, to win a NASCAR National Touring Series race.
• Caruth raced his first full season in NCTS in 2023, earning four top-10 finishes and closing the year 16th in the division’s championship point standings.
• Crew chief Chad Walter has visited Bristol victory lane twice in Xfinity Series competition. He helped Kyle Busch and Justin Allgaier to victories in the spring event in 2006 and 2010, respectively. In his four truck races atop the box, Walter has collected three top-10 finishes, highlighted by Caruth’s sixth-place run in 2023.
• The No. 71 Silverado racing at Bristol is identified as Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-007. The truck was raced this season in the driver’s first career victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 1), was featured in a strong day at Texas Motor Speedway (April 12), posted a top-five qualifying effort at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 24) and collected a top-five finish at Nashville Superspeedway (June 28).
• Rajah Caruth will be signing autographs in the NASCAR Classics merchandise hauler Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
• Caruth and teammate Chase Purdy will participate in a Q&A session Thursday at 1:15 p.m. at the Food City Fan Zone Stage. 

Rajah Caruth Quotes
Describe Bristol in one word.
“One word to describe Bristol? Badass. It’s the opening scene in Cars. It’s the epitome of pure, short track racing. You get goosebumps every time you pull up to the facility.”
You secured a top-10 finish in your previous two trips to Bristol. What’s the key to success?
“The key to success at Bristol is precision. You have to be plugged in and remain aware of everything going on around you. It is a super fun race track, but you are going fast, there’s a lot of banking, it is tough to see and things happen very quickly. I’ve raced pretty much everything there, from ARCA to trucks to Xfinity. Hopefully, we can build off our past runs and punch our ticket to the next round of the playoffs.”
What would it mean to win at Bristol?
“A win at Bristol would be pretty cool. I first went there when Nick (Sanchez) was running the K&N Series race for REV Racing and I was hanging out with the team while racing in their late model program. It has been one of my favorites ever since. It is the epitome of NASCAR. The drive through the mountains to “Thunder Valley” is awesome. The facility itself is incredible, with grandstands as high as you can see all the way around the track. For the speed I’ve had at Bristol, and just how cool of a racetrack it is, a win would be very special.”

Connor Zilisch – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado

• Connor Zilisch will steer Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Silver Hare Racing ChevroletSilverado for the third of five races this season in Thursday evening’s UNOH 200 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
• Last week at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Zilisch sat on the pole and led 45 of the 90 laps to claim victory in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut. At 18 years and 54 days old, he became the second-youngest driver to win an Xfinity Series event and seventh to win in his series debut.
• The talented teenager will pull double duty on Thursday when he’ll also pilot the No. 28 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet SS for Pinnacle Racing Group in the 200-lap ARCA Menards Series (AMS) race.
• The No. 7 team qualified for the 2024 NCTS owner’s playoffs and are currently 10th on the grid, seven points behind the cutline to advance to the Round of Eight. Bristol marks the second of three races in the Round of 10, which concludes next Friday, Sept. 27 at Kansas Speedway.
• Zilisch will return to the seat of Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevy Silverado twice more this season. Following this weekend’s visit to Bristol, Zilisch will make his superspeedway debut at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway before the division’s penultimate race at Martinsville Speedway in November.
• Thursday’s ARCA Menards Series event serves as the ARCA Menards Series East (AMSE) season finale. The Mooresville, N.C., native currently holds a 16-point lead in the regional series’ championship standings. He can clinch the title with an 11th-place or better finish and earn Rookie of the Year honors with a top-25 run.
• Zilisch has finished in the top five in all seven AMSE races, led 385 of the 1,105 laps contested (34.8 percent), owns an average finish of 1.9 and collected victories at Dover Motor Speedway (April 26), Flat Rock Speedway (May 18), Iowa Speedway (June 14) and Indianapolis Raceway Park (July 19).
• The road-course ace made his NASCAR debut in the No. 7 Austin Hatcher Foundation Silverado at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in March. He set a track record while claiming the Cometic Gasket Pole Award by 0.714 seconds. Despite a pair of early-race miscues, Zilisch battled through the field twice to earn a spirited fourth-place finish.
• The accomplished karting and road racer made his first CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start on an oval at Richmond Raceway. After rolling off the grid 27th, he led all drivers with 72 green-flag passes and ranked within the top 10 in quality passes (30). An on-track incident ended his night with 14 laps remaining where he was ultimately credited with a 29th-place finish.
• Silver Hare Racing is a fulltime competitor in the TA2 division of the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli. The multicar team has won the TA2 Masters Class championship three times (2018, 2019 and 2020) with driver and team co-owner Maurice Hull. Under the leadership of Hull’s wife, co-owner and team manager Laura Hull, the High Point, North Carolina-based team provides a variety of services that includes private testing and arrive-and-drive programs. At the forefront of Silver Hare’s passion for all things motorsports lies the deep commitment of the Hulls to the development of talented young drivers with aspirations of competing at the highest levels of racing, including NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. For more information, please visit silverhareracing.com.
• The racing prodigy is a six-time winner behind the wheel of a Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series. His most recent victory in the series came in February at Sebring.
• The Trackhouse Racing development driver won his first zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car race at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway in May. The victory accompanies his triumph in the series’ Pro Late Model division last season at Ace Speedway in Elon, N.C.
• Through 17 races, the No. 7 has compiled two wins with an average starting position of 10.9 and an average finish of 12.8. Kyle Busch led 33 laps en route the team’s first victory of 2024 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February and a led a dominant 112 laps in the team’s most recent triumph at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. In its most recent outing, Sammy Smith started 19th and finished 17th at the Milwaukee Mile.
• In March’s visit to “Thunder Valley,” Kyle Busch wheeled the No. 7 Group 1001 Silverado to a second-place finish. “Rowdy” maintained the second-highest average running position of the night (1.94) after pacing the field for 105 laps.
• In his first season at Spire Motorsports, crew chief Brian Pattie led the No. 7 team to two victories across the first seven events this season, both with Kyle Busch (Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway). The duo also won twice across five races last year with Kyle Busch Motorsports.
• Brian Pattie has been atop the box for 28 NASCAR Cup Series races at Bristol, collecting eight top 10s with four different drivers (Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jarry Nadeau and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.). He earned a third-place performance with Reed Sorenson in the Xfinity Series race in April of 2005.
• On the dirt configuration at Bristol, Pattie led Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. to a runner-up finish in the inaugural Cup Series Food City Dirt Race in 2021 and William Byron to a third-place effort in the 2023 Weather Guard Truck Race.
• Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-074 will be driven by Zilisch on Thursday, which was last seen on track with Connor Mosack at Pocono (July 12) in its most recent of nine starts. The truck has visited victory lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 3, 2023) and Atlanta Motor Speedway (Feb. 24), both with Kyle Busch behind the wheel.

Connor Zilisch Quotes
What are the pros and cons of running both the ARCA and truck races in one night?
“I don’t think there are any cons, other than most likely being a little exhausted at the end of the night. The biggest pro is getting more laps. Getting that experience is critical for me to continue to learn and grow. It will be a fun day and hopefully I can get a pair of checkered flags.”
Now that you have won in the Xfinity Series, is there any pressure to get a CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win?
“I wouldn’t call it pressure, I just want to go out and do my best. There obviously aren’t any road courses left on the truck schedule, and the ovals will be tougher for me to win at. There’s nothing I’m not prepared for. Everyone at Spire Motorsports has done a good job at getting me up to speed on the simulator and ready to go in these races. I know we will have a good truck at Bristol since Kyle (Busch) ran good there in the spring, so I just have to go out, execute and run all of the laps.” 

Spire Motorsports PR