By Justin Schuoler, Staff Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas – In a storm of chaos at Texas Motor Speedway, few trucks survived to see the checkered flag unscathed.
Chase Purdy was not one of those with some scratches, dings and dents in his No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado. However, it was good enough for second in Saturday night’s SpeedyCash.com 250 to set a new career best finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
“Hats off to everybody on this 4 team,” said Purdy after the race. “They bust their ass every day in the shop, and I’m glad we could come away with a good finish.”
Purdy restarted in the back end of the top 10 on the final restart, and had a bird’s eye view of the big wreck among the leaders at the end of the frontstretch. The race officially ended under caution, with the only truck ahead of him being race winner Carson Hocevar.
“I saw the 2 in the dogleg get sideways, then I don’t know if it was the 42 that just cleaned them out and finished it or what, but we ended up second. We restarted seventh,” recalled Purdy. “Everybody at Kyle Busch Motorsports works as one and honestly, I would have liked to have dominated the race like the 2 truck but track position is so crucial here. Thank you to Bama Buggies and KBM.
“They never stop believing in me, and we found a way to come home with a solid finish so I’ll take it.”
The team does indeed have his whole back. Purdy made the leap from Hattori Racing Enterprises to Kyle Busch Motorsports this season, and it’s been a positive change for his career. In a world of just turning laps, Purdy now feels he’s in position to finally win.
“I told everybody at the beginning of the year it’s personal, and I wanted to go somewhere where I could put myself in equipment that could win and prove everybody wrong,” he stated. “I think we’re doing a pretty damn good job at doing that right now. We still need to be better, but I think we’re doing a good job.”
Next weekend, the Truck series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the first dirt race of the season. Purdy sarcastically appeared to look forward to that race.
“Sure,” he chuckled. “Sure.”
