Event: Buckle Up South Carolina, Race 9 of 23, 147 Laps – 45/45/57; 200.8 Miles
Location: Darlington Raceway (1.33-mile, egg-shaped oval)
Date/Broadcast: May 12, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
‘Chase’n Checkers:
Chase Purdy, Driver Q&A:
You had a tough race at Kansas. Are you glad that there is another race on the schedule right away?
“I’m glad that we are strapping right back into our trucks not even a week later. That’s a really good thing mentally as a driver — having an opportunity to get a good finish and quickly get your confidence back.”
Darlington is a unique race track. How do you attack the race Friday night?
“Obviously it requires a lot of focus and it’s a driver’s race track. It’s important to have a truck that is stable enough and has enough security to run up against the wall and be aggressive. I think the driver who can run on top and run against the wall the best is going to be the driver to beat. You have to keep the nose on it and stay clean — don’t make mistakes like we did last weekend. It’s back to the drawing board this weekend and it’s an opportunity to have a good point’s day and put ourselves back in contention — if we do everything right maybe even come out with a win.”
At what point do you start looking at where you stand on the playoff grid?
“I’ve already started looking at it and it’s already been on my mind. I know we are 11th in driver’s points and we’re sitting 12th in playoff points — I think we’re 18 points out or something like that. Realistically we are only one good day away from being in, but obviously we’d like to win and guarantee ourselves a spot.”
Chase Purdy Career Highlights:
- Across 60 career Truck Series starts, has produced 18 laps led, one top-five and nine top-10 finishes. Posted a career-best runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April of 2023.
- Finished 16th in Truck Series championship standings in 2022.
- Finished fourth in the 2018 ARCA Menard’s Series championship standings after recording 84 laps led, 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.
- Earned the 2017 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East rookie of the year honors and finished fourth in the championship standings after posting four poles, 200 laps led, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes across 14 starts.
- Won the prestigious Snowflake 100 Pro Late Model race at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., in Dec. of 2018.
Chase Purdy’s No. 4 Bama Buggies Silverado RST:
KBM-73: The No. 4 Bama Buggies team will unload KBM-73 for Friday night’s race at Darlington. Purdy earned a runner-up finish with this same Silverado at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year. John Hunter Nemechek piloted this chassis twice last year, with his best result being a third-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
KBM-73 Performance Profile:
| Starts | Wins | Average Start | Average Finish | Laps Led |
| 3 | 0 | 14.0 | 13.3 | 0 |
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have collected two wins, 274 laps led, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 14.2 across 14 starts at Darlington Raceway. John Hunter Nemechek led a race-high 69 laps en route to victory in last year’s race at the egg-shaped oval. Kasey Kahne picked up the organization’s first win at “The Lady in Black” in 2011.
- With his victory at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway last year, Corey Heim became the 18th different driver to win a Truck Series event for KBM. In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers: Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
