Chase Purdy- No. 4 Bama Buggies Silverado Craftsman Trucks Bristol Dirt Preview

Chase Purdy slides into the dirt truck race at Bristol Motor Speedway building on the momentum of a career-best second-place finish in last week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway. For Purdy, it marked the first time he had finished in the top five in a Truck Series event. Before Texas, his best finish in his first 56 starts was a sixth-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in 2021. Despite only five races into the season, the 23-year-old has already produced one race. . high three top-10 results. He currently sits seventh in the series points standings, 58 points behind points leader Ty Majeski. He ranks sixth among series regulars in average finish (12.2), seventh in fastest laps (12), eighth in average race position (13.086) and ninth in driver rating (78.8).

In his previous two starts in the dirt Truck Series at Bristol, Purdy posted an average finish of 15.5. His best result was a 13th place finish in last year’s race. Team 4 will unload the KBM-35, which is the chassis John Hunter Nemechek raced in both gravel events last year, finishing third at Bristol and second at Knoxville Raceway.

The Mississippi native is in his third full-time season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and his first with KBM. He enters Saturday’s race having totaled one top-five finish, eight top-10 finishes and 18 laps led in his 57 Truck Series starts. Purdy finished 16th in the final Truck Series standings in 2022 after competing in 22 of the 23 events. He posted two top-10 finishes and nine laps led, with a season-high seventh finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in October.

Purdy will attempt to engrave his mark on KBM’s historical archives this weekend in Bristol as he looks to earn the organization’s 100th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win. KBM owner driver Kyle Busch earned a record-extending 99th KBM race win with his dominating win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway leaving his organization one of the century mark . William Byron took a record 51st KBM Truck Series victory in July 2016. Overall, 18 different drivers have won at least one race behind the wheel of a KBM truck, led by Busch’s 47. Four drivers sit second on the list with seven wins. : Byron, Christopher Bell, Erik Jones, and John Hunter Nemechek. KBM has earned three such victories on gravel, most recently with Martin Truex Jr. at Bristol in 2021. Bubba Wallace (2014) and Bell (2015) each had wins at Eldora Speedway when it was a stop on the Series schedule. of Trucks.

Jimmy Villeneuve is atop the pit box for Purdy and the No. 4 Chevrolet team this season. Before being promoted to crew chief for the 2023 season, Villeneuve served as head of truck at KBM since the 2017 season and in that role was part of 18 wins, a drivers’ championship with Christopher Bell in 2017 and the owners’ championship. of 2019 with the No. 51 Team. Before joining KBM, the New Hampshire native served as head of truck at Athenian Motorsports in 2015 when the team won with John Wes Townley in Las Vegas. He was promoted to crew chief five races into the 2016 season. Saturday’s race will be Villeneuve’s second race on top of the pit box for a gravel race. He finished 21st with Brady Boswell at Eldora Speedway in 2016.

Bama Buggies, your one-stop shop for all the biggest names in powersports and utility vehicles, will be the title sponsor of Purdy’s No. 4 Chevrolet on Saturday and most events on the 2023 schedule. They’re the sports experts. Central Alabama motorized dealers and act as authorized dealers for Polaris, Slingshot and Seadoo.